Bentivolio, Taj Talk Medicare, Health Care, Social Security at Fox Run in Novi
The retirement community's Political Awareness Committee organized Thursday's 11th Congressional District candidate forum.
The two candidates who will face off in November for the 11th Congressional District seat met on a stage in Novi Thursday, speaking to seniors at Fox Run about Medicare, Social Security, taxes and health care.
While Kerry Bentivolio, a Republican from Milford, and Canton Township Democrat Dr. Syed Taj found a little common ground in their mutual desire to preserve Social Security, their positions on most issues were starkly different. But the point of the event, organizers said, was to make sure the retirement community's residents know what those positions are.
Members of Fox Run's Resident Advisory Council, which works with administration and residents, recently formed a Political Awareness Committee because "it was important for our residents to be aware of what's going on," said committee member Peg Quigley. There will be another forum on ballot issues, and residents also hope to draw U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and her opponent Republican Pete Hoekstra, she said.
Sam Ray, who is also an advisory council member, went into the event supporting Taj, but said he felt both speakers were very well prepared and answered residents' questions on Social Security, Medicare and taxes. "These are the things residents here are most concerned about," Ray said.
Resident Twila Nissley found herself disappointed at the end of the forum, which ran for more than an hour and was followed by a meet-and-greet with the candidates. She said while the candidates talked about issues, "they didn't tell us what they're going to do when they get (into office). They're not telling us that."
Here are a few of the candidate responses to questions seniors posed; the full debate will air on Novi's city channel 13 (Bright House) beginning Sept. 9:
Cuts to Social Security
Taj: There will be no cuts to Social Security as far as I am concerned. I also do not agree with increasing the age of eligibility. I know the body does not function the way it does when we are younger ... You can increase the ceiling (the income cap on eligibility). The ceiling has not been changed since the 1990s.
Bentivolio: I believe in preserving and protecting Social Security. As far as I'm concerned, you made a contract ... you pay into it and you collect at age 62. But Social Security is going to be a bust is we don't fix it for people 55 and younger. It's time to make a new contract, and give them an opportunity to invest, while preserving the agreement we have with people now.
Grover Norquist "no new taxes" pledge
(According to Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform website, signers agree "to oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business;" and "to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.")
Bentivolio: I signed that pledge with Grover ... He keeps a close eye on us for that. If you get out of line, you'll get a call real quick. The Republican Party and I believe the money is better in your hands.
Taj: How do you run a government without revenue? I pledge that I will never raise taxes for middle class and poor people, but people who make over $1 million ... I am not your friend. I will raise taxes.
Congressional gridlock
Taj: People elect us not to go keep fighting about ideology. To be successful, you have to learn to compromise, that's the message I'm taking from Canton Township. I was one Democrat among seven (township trustees). They could have sidelined me, but they did not. (Taj earlier explained that he worked with Republicans in a bi-partisan manner.)
Bentivolio: Compromise is very important, but there are a couple of things I won't compromise on, and that's my grandchildren's future ... There is a $1.5 trillion debt. Who's going to pay for that? My grandchildren. Our former Congressman voted for a study of cats in Africa, and not the big cats. You're not going to see that from me.
Medicare vouchers
Taj: Voucher program is not going to work ... The best insurance company is the government insurance company. The reason is, they're a not for profit organization, their cost is about 1.3 to 1.8 percent, whereas a multination corporations, they make 60 to 65 percent. If you go out and buy your insurance in the private market ... you won't have money to buy it, which means you are going to suffer.
Bentivolio: The (Republican) plan that I support would leave your benefits unchanged and would leave benefits unchanged for anyone 55 or older. Syed Taj, on the other hand, supports Obamacare, which will cut $700 billion from Medicare, that's $70 billion a year ... and instead, they've decided to have these panels to determine what kind of medical care you're going to get.
Taj: It's not from the benefits to the people who are enrollees. The money came from the pharmaceutical industry, from the lobby companies, from the hospitals... This money is going to put in for having prescription benefit drug coverage ... and also, it's going into preventative care.
Bentivolio: They're going to lower the cost of what they pay doctors. If a doctor isn't making enough money, why would he even take care of anybody on Medicare? That's where the money's coming from. And $70 billion is going to be cut, read the plan, per year from Medicare and go to Obamacare.
bvwatson
10:04 am on Friday, August 31, 2012
On Bentivolio's final point ("they're going to lower...what they pay doctors."): when Bentivolio says "they", he means the Romney/Ryan/Republican plan as well as the Obama/Democratic plan.
The adjustment formula was put in place in 1997 and has remained in place under both parties in Congress and in the White House.
TaterSalad
11:11 am on Friday, August 31, 2012
Bentivolios has our vote. He is the best person to get this state back on track and will curtail entitlements that is costing us taxpayers big bucks in our taxes for these freebee lovers to sit on their rear ends while we are lucky enough to work.
TaterSalad
11:12 am on Friday, August 31, 2012
Barack Obama to the Nation: If I am not re-elected this Executive Order will "kick in" and everyone will do what is demanded by this federal government:
http://therealrevo.com/blog/?p=82240
Christa DiNapoli
2:51 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
What President Obama actually did (in March 2012) was issue an update to an Executive Order that was first signed in 1939 and has been amended many times by presidents of both parties. His update basically reflects the changes in cabinet structure (i.e., the addition of the Dept. of Homeland Security and changes to FEMA's responsibilities).
Tater, try checking your facts before fearmongering.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/ndrp.asp
Gwen Markham
11:27 am on Friday, August 31, 2012
This was an excellent forum and I commend Fox Run for an interesting and informative event.
There are very clear differences between the candidates, and the debate last night gave them each a chance to make their case. The questions from the residents were probing and right on target.
Read their answers. Decide for yourself. I support Dr. Taj.
cookiepro2
12:33 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
Will these candidates be speaking in the eastern portion of the new 11th district before the election? I was in US Rep Gary Peters old 9th district and am unfamiliar with both Dr. Taj and Mr. Bentivolio, would like to get a chance to meet them.
I agree with both candidates that both healthcare and Medicare need changes, and am especially interested in hearing from Dr. Taj as he would have informed opinions gathered from years of working in the medical field.
Paul Armstrong
12:33 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
Terry Bentivolio the social security contract starts the 1st day you pay in to the fund, so you are supporting the breaking of the contract with all Americans 55 or younger even though we have been paying in to the contracted social security fund since we started working. If you want to change the social security contract then you need to start with the next generation that has not stared to pay in to the program.
With regards to your signing the Grover Norquist pledge; for a man who claims to honor and live by the constitution it is sad that you would sign away in advance a constitutionally granted right for a congressman to a Washington lobbyist. So your claim, not doing business like a Washington politician, is already starting to unravel. What else have you committed to, get the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Texas PAC money support for you campaign?
Brian Mccann
1:40 pm on Monday, September 3, 2012
exactly... anyone under 55 should not vote for the ryan "fix" to medicare
John Doe
10:20 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Unfortunately, the Federal Govt has already violated that contract decades ago by funneling SS payments into the general spending cycle and leaving a nice little IOU in its place. As somebody who has a couple more decades before I can dream of not working, I fully understand the contract is already null and void. I want out, I want to keep MY MONEY to use for my own control in saving and investing for my future. As McCann does not seem to grasp, if the system is not changed soon, nobody will get any benifits becasue the entire system will be bankrupt. Most dont realize that both SS and Medicare funds have been spending more than they have been taking in as revenue for the past few years. The demographic and revenue tide has already turned, the system is already showing that it is bankrupt, unsustainable, and those programs alone now account for 2/3 of all Federal real revenues, not including defense, roads, schools, any of the endless alphabet agencies like DEA, FBI, NSA, EPA, HUD, ect ect. The lst 1/3 of real revenue is already eaten up by INTEREST payments on the existing debt. Just wait as debt continues to increas at 1.3 Trillion plus each year and the artificially suppressed interest rates rise, Real Federal Revenue will be halved, just to make the minimum interest payment on the fedearl Credit card taken out in our childrens and grand childrens names. Is that the legacy you wish to leave?
Paul Armstrong
12:33 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
Read News Paper Report - How Bentivolio's classroom behavior was reprimanded and how he had to leave his last teaching job-
http://www.freep.com/article/20120822/NEWS15/120822001/Graphic-How-Bentivolio-s-classroom-behavior-reprimanded
JMB
12:33 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
So if Taj says he will raise taxes on those making over 1 million, does that mean that he doesn't back Obama. Obama wants to raise taxes on any couple or small company making over 250k. How do you run a country with out revenue. First we already spend around 4 trillion without a budget thank you Dems. Then we run up an additional debt of 5 trillion under Obama. We are on a course to end up like Greece. Time to change course, Romney & Ryan 2012
EHM
3:52 pm on Saturday, September 1, 2012
Does every politician of each party have to agree 100% with what the President says if they're from his party (the Presidential candidate from their party)? If that were the case, then why bother having a congress, just let the President decide everything!
But in the case of Taj and Obama, they do have a similar plan, to tax the richest people. Exactly what defines the richest would be something worked out and compromised on if that plan is allowed to go forward by the Republicans.
But to reemphasize this point, BOTH parties need to work together to pass a budget. They need to remember that compromise is how laws get passed. You'll never make everyone happy, but things like the Taxpayer Protection Pledge just make it more difficult to do that.
You can't be unwilling to budge on every detail, and anyone who expects a politician to stick to everything single detail they promised is a naive. Someone who does that just becomes an obstructionist.
Brian Mccann
1:40 pm on Monday, September 3, 2012
romney and ryan want taxes to b 0% for many/most of those high income people it says it right in the republican platform. and eliminate the inheritance tax. how does that balance the budget?
Paul Armstrong
9:08 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
We all have to pay our fair share of taxes. As an independent conservative I do not want my bills to be paid by my grandkids. The current tax code which lets Romney pay 14 % in federal taxes while forcing people who make 1/20th of what he makes, pay 20% or more , shows how the rich have rigged the tax system in their favor.
Brian Mccann
1:40 pm on Monday, September 3, 2012
keep voting republican!
Paul Armstrong
9:08 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
When Bill Clinton (D) handed over the presidency to George Bush (R) there was a federal budget surplus. But Bush decided that instead of paying down the debt with the budget surplus, a tax cut was more important. Bush also decided that 2 wars and Medicare part D (drug plan for seniors) should not be paid for but added to the deficit. On top of all the previously mentioned, the removal of the Glass-Steagall Act which happened under the Clinton (D) administration with Republican Congress and the non-enforcement of wall street regulation which lead to a near depression like collapse of the economy in the last year of the Bush presidency are some of the reasons that we have such a budget issue today.
So when republicans complain about Obama running up the debt and not fixing the economy fast enough, it is a lot like an arsonist complain that the fireman is taking too long to put out the fire they started. You cannot fix 8 years of damage done by Bush in 4 years no matter how hard you try. Remember Dick Cheney “deficits do not matter”.
Paul Armstrong
9:08 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
See below on how Paul Ryan and the Republican congress ballooned the federal deficit with their ridiculous tax cuts. The Republican Congress failed to take in to account that you save when times are good because they may not always be that way.
You do not have a true surplus until you have no federal debt. Her is Paul Ryan not paying down the debt but making excuses to give tax cuts. This is the same person who is blaming Obama for what he did back in 2001.
— Paul Ryan, March 8th, 2001 (Source: Congressional Record)
Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. I have been listening to this debate with a lot of wonder. I am a newer member to the committee and a newer Member to Congress. It is amazing to me the excuses we are hearing to further separate people from their own money. We hear that this tax cut is just too big, it is irresponsible, we cannot handle it. I refer Members to this chart which shows that this is six cents on the dollar, six cents on the dollar that every American taxpayer is sending to Washington over the next ten years. $1.6 trillion out of $28 trillion.
Paul Armstrong
9:08 am on Saturday, September 1, 2012
Read the lies that the so called conservative (real conservatives save for the future and pay their debts in full) told to push the Bush tax cuts in 2001 that have now ballooned the deficit. See link for Heritage Foundation for more information.
http://origin.heritage.org/research/reports/2001/04/the-economic-impact-of-president-bushs-tax-relief-plan
TaterSalad
3:52 pm on Saturday, September 1, 2012
Citizen Taj is your typical liberal, democratic spend it now and worry about the debt later person, just like Barack Obama. Notice his stance on social security is a great indicator. He also backs Unions so he will back this constitution change to give unions power over the people.
Unions in Michigan want to change our States Constitution which would favor them and give Unions power over the people. Here it is explained.
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/17469
Jim Erickson
7:06 pm on Sunday, September 2, 2012
Does Taj support having a 15 member board in charge of rationing health care like Obama does?
Brian Mccann
1:40 pm on Monday, September 3, 2012
i guess our current system of having a corporate board in charge of our health care rationing is better? hmm a loving corporate board or a government board with no ties to profit or losses hmmmm thats NOT a tough decision for me!
TaterSalad
7:06 pm on Sunday, September 2, 2012
It all comes down to who wants "Big Government and debt" or if you want smaller government and fiscal curtailment. Bentivolio is a conservative who wants to reign in spending and taxes and have smaller government while the democrat wants to spend tax revenues which we don't have, make promises and leave us debt and the cycle starts all over again the following year.
https://www.facebook.com/KerryBentivolio
Brian Mccann
4:33 pm on Monday, September 3, 2012
reign in spending and taxes thats been promised forever and has never came true (by both parties).... but all of that is not as important as saving my social security payments (plus inflation) and my medicare insurance. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY DOES NOT COME AT MY EXPENSE! 0% taxation of the rich (rnc platform adopted sept 2012) seems to me to be a step in the wrong direction. so i am going to give the democrats a chance.
JMB
7:07 pm on Monday, September 3, 2012
Top 1 % pay 36%, top 10% pay 71% of taxes. Bottom 50% pay 2%. How is that fair. Please don't spread lies
John Smith
9:57 am on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
You tell'em JMB! It's not fair!... The top should be paying more. Much, much more. Why? Because they have exponentially more than the rest of us!
Take a look:
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/10/03/334156/top-five-wealthiest-one-percent/
Bryce
10:32 am on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
You tell em "John"
Gee, that statement sounds somewhat familiar. Oh, now I remember...
"From each according to his ability to each according to his needs."
Karl Marx "Critique of the Gotha Program"
Darrell Johnson
9:35 am on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
You either believe in more government and public institution solutions or the chance for less government and private enterprise... therefore, Bentivolio is the logical choice for those who want a real citizen legislator to represent them fully. Under the guise of the Constitution and fiscal restraint, Kerry Bentivolio is the prudent choice.
http://bentivolioforcongress.com/
Paul Armstrong
6:45 pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Kerry Bentivolio has no experience in elected office, is a failed/bankrupt business man, failed/abusive/fired/forced to quit teacher and worst of all for a congressional candidate, he is a conspiracy theorist introvert who refuses to talk to the press. Kerry is a libertarian who masquerades as a republican and the republican establishment calls him “Crazy Kerry”.
Kerry has not demonstrated that he can serve his own interests well how can he hope to serve the interest of some 700,000 constituents of the 11th congressional district. I will not be voting for him.
JMB
3:41 pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
John, there will always be those that make more than you and those that make less. I suggest you take a trip to Detroit and look at all the people there that you are doing better than. They look at you as rich, so you should take all your wealth and give it to them, so that it is fair. It is always easier when you go after what someone else has rather than your wealth. Envy is a strong motivator- as is class warfare and race warfare, that is what Karl Marx and Hitler used to control the masses. Don't fall in to that mind set, you will never be happy.
John Smith
12:52 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
This is about equity. This has nothing to do with Karl Marx or Hitler. This is about our political parties, their platforms, legislative agendas, and leaders. None of them should be mentioned along with the villains you've named. None. And no one should reach into a bag of names and phrases to try to frighten people. It's shameful. My earlier point was simple, but apparently elusive. The wealthy account for a larger percentage of overall tax receipts simply because they possess most of the nation's wealth. For example, if you earn $1,000,000 per year and pay a 20% tax rate, you've paid $200,000 in taxes. If I earn $50,000 per year and pay 20% in taxes, then I've paid $10,000 in taxes. What you haven't earned, however, is the right to claim that you're overtaxed. I won't quote Marx, but I'll take an attempt at scripture: to whom much is given, much is expected. Finally, I was in Detroit today. Lots of people down on their luck. What you said about the way they may have looked at me and my relative wealth may be true. But what is more important is the way I saw them. I didn't see my tax dollars going to waste. I didn't see an overly generous safety net enabling habits. I didn't see a bunch of stereotypes that lead me to a self-centered partisanship. I saw problems and I saw hardships. I saw a lot of things. But what I really saw was people.
Louis Isabell
12:03 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
Taj is wrong on the $716 billion cut to Medicare. bvwatson is also wrong. The 1997 formula has been fixed each year by passing the so called "Doc fix bill" each year. Had the formula been followed it would have been a cut of over 30% in 2012. The $716 billion in cuts are real cuts to Medicare based maninly in the fees paid by Medicare for Physician services and diagnostic services. A report released by CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services) and a branch of HHS (Health & Human Services) dated Aug. 10, 2010 discusses both of the above cuts. On page six of the report is a graph showing the impact of the cuts. By 2018 Medicare fees will only equal that of Medicaid and will decrease each year thereafter. Obamacare eliminates Medicare by defunding every year. The goal is to force everyone into a single payer system such as Medicaid. You can see the report here -http://www.lowcostinsur.com/articles/2010TRAlternativeScenario-dissent.pdf
Paul Armstrong
6:36 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
The Democrats brought Social Security and Medicare to the American people and they will do the best job to protect and fix them.
The Republicans have fought tooth and nail against Social Security and Medicare and cannot be trusted to maintain or fix them.
Louis Isabell
2:49 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
It's sad that P. Armstrong did not read the CMS report that shows Obamacare has already eliminated Medicare ove a period of years. It is also sad that he does not read the CBO reports on the accelerated demise of the Social Securities bank of money. He may also want to read the Federal Law regarding dispersing funds for Social Security. SS is only required to disperse the funds it has on hand or is taking in. With the accelerated pace (due to the lack of people paying in, due to the lack of jobs, due to the ineptness of the President) of decline they will only be taking in approximately 70% of what is neede in early 2030's. Everyone on SS will automatically receive a 30% cut in their SS. The democrats have never done anything to address this issue. As for Medicare they have already eliminated it. These are facts not how someone may feel about a particular political party.
V. Scheurich
12:18 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
Taj also backs the Unions!
Chicago teachers make an average of $79,000.00 per year "plus" benefits. The amount paid to the school system for each child is over $13,000.00, third highest is the nation. You be the judge if public union school teachers are greedy or not. They 'turned down" a proposed contract that would give then a 16% raise spread out over 4 years (4% per year wage increase).
Rahm Emanuel and his merry tax payers of Chicago and their tax and spend ideology is now center stage..................and laughable.
1. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/10/Charter-Schools-Remain-Open-in-Chicago-as-Teachers-Union-Strike-Shuts-Down-Public-Schools
2. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/chicagos-26000-teachers-support-staff-go-on-strike-for-the-first-time-in-25-years-heres-why/
John McKay
12:39 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
V. Scheurich: I'm aware that you are the same user we had suspended earlier, and I appreciate you using your actual name with this new account, and for being on-topic here, addressing your issues with the specific candidate, but when you post the same comment on several stories, it still constitutes spam. If you could refrain from the copy-and-paste posts, we'd appreciate it.
Nurse Ratchet
10:45 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012
VETERANS BEWARE...Ryan has cut VA benefits and the Senate has voted it through. Republican desperately need their Congressional candidates to win in order for them to pass this bill in the House, They only need a hand full of seats. Altschuler is the key link. Read the NY Times today. Take your time, it's a bit complicated, which is what Romney and Ryan hoped for, so us veterans wouldn't be able to understand it. It comes down to one thing and one thing only: Both Romney and Ryan must tell the truth to veterans "There are NO CUTS in the Ryan Budget to VA benefits" or they're lying to us. The NYTimes and Congressional Budget Office make it clear...HUGE CUTS have been made. Read the article: http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/edsall-the-ryan-sinkhole/?nl=opinion&emc=edit_ty_20120910
Let Romney and Ryan deny it. We HAVE read the article all the way through and it was the Romney Campaign that has sent a mumbo-jumbo of non-denial denials.
V. Scheurich
11:45 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Taj will be just another "tool" for Barack Obama and his policies that have failed America and this is the problem:
Obama condemns Romney before.................condemning terrorists! When will Barack Obama's "Apology Tour" begin for Libya's killing of 4 Americans?
http://weaselzippers.us/2012/09/12/obama-campaign-condemns-romney-before-condemning-terrorists-who-attacked-our-embassies/
Wei Li
5:34 pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
All of this partisan bickering is missing the point. A shadow government of elite banksters and corporatists have seized control of the US and other nations. Using fiat currency and fractional reserve banking, they stealthily transfer the wealth (excess productivity) of the masses to members of an oligarchy. Using paper/digital money just imagined into existence, they own politics, the mass media, and we the little people. The elite are very evil power-crazed people with no regard for the welfare of other humans. They do not need more money, but can never get enough power. Mankind is being managed like a for-profit livestock operation and they are keeping most people too ignorant or distracted to notice. See House of Rothschild, Congressman Louis T. McFadden, Norman Dodd, Charlotte Iserbyt, The Creature from Jekyll Island (The Fed). Just ask yourself, who gets bailed out and who does not get prosecuted? Banksters - at the top, names seldom seen.
Thomas Jefferson - “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
People like Kerry Bentvolio in Congress will at least piss them off. Taj would just accelerate the enslavement.