"Deficits, Deceit, and the Body Politic" was originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Here is an excerpt:

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are the foundations for the well-being of scores of millions of middle- and low-income Americans. Without Social Security, 14 million more low-income Americans would be living in poverty. Because of Medicare, 33 million older people live longer, have access to quality careand are not driven into poverty by rapidly rising health care costs. Medicaid is a health care boon to Americans not yet eligible for Medicare, which covers some 60 million Americans.

Working people across the United States in more than 100 events last night called on their representatives to reject benefit cuts for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and to stop tax giveaways for the richest 2%. 

View photos from events around the country on the AFL-CIO Facebook page. 

Working families across the country are participating in Candlelight Campaign today to urge Congress to end tax cuts for the richest 2% and to say "no" to benefit cuts for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The candlelight rallies, town halls, vigils and other events are coinciding with International Human Rights Day.

If you cannot attend an event, light a virtual candle in solidarity. 

Visit www.aflcio.org/ProtectOurFuture for all the information you need on the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress. 

No more tax breaks for the wealthiest 2%. No benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These are the two messages members of Congress are hearing today as seniors and working people of all ages are calling their representatives in Washington, D.C., about the upcoming budget showdown. 

We must KEEP THE PROMISE of #SocialSecurity #Medicare and #Medicaid Tell Congress NOW at 888-497-9539 #callcongress

— ARA Seniors (@ActiveRetirees) November 15, 2012

This is an excerpt from Listen to the Voters—and Save Yourselves, by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. 

It's time for House Speaker John Boehner and the Republican leadership to stop holding America's middle class hostage and instead join Democrats in saying "No" to another tax cut for the rich.

That's what voters asked for, loud and clear.

Read the rest on The Huffington Post. 

This is a cross-post from The Huffington Post by Diane Archer, the former president of the Medicare Rights Center.

As both our national debt and health care costs continue to swell, America's CEOs and other "influentials" have targeted Medicare as a key culprit and insist that Congress cut Medicare spending in the current deficit discussions. In truth, we do not have a "Medicare problem" in this country; we have a big problem with rising health care costs.

“Winning” in a democracy is assumed to mean that you won more votes than the other candidate or party. And so, when Speaker John Boehner writes an open letter to the president calling 2012 “a status quo election in which both you and the Republican majority in the House were re-elected,” you might reasonably guess that Republicans in the House of Representatives won more votes than Democrats.

Republican congressional leaders offered their budget counter-proposal Monday in response to President Obama's proposal, but it does little more than rehash previous offers that were clearly rejected by the voters in November's election.

This is a cross-post from The Huffington Post by Joe Baker, president of the Medicare Rights Center.

As the approach of the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" nears, many advocates nationwide are making this message clear: Medicare benefit cuts are not an option. In a letter to the president and Congress, AARP states, "As we move forward, it is clear that older Americans want the focus of the debate to be on reducing overall health costs and not simply targeting Medicare and Medicaid for budget cuts." Just days after the election, a collective of the largest and most powerful progressive voices ran a Washington Post advertisement to the president and Congress that included, "No cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security benefits or shifting costs to beneficiaries or the states," as one of five guiding principles for reducing the federal deficit. Medicare Rights Center joined 146 national organizations in support of this very same message.

Nurses and members of National Nurses United (NNU) know that if Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits are cut, people they care for every day will be hurt. This is why across the United States and in Washington, D.C., NNU is running bus ads as part of a national campaign telling Congress not to push seniors off of the so-called "fiscal cliff."