I am really having trouble understanding why we need to have cuts to earned benefits such as Medicare and Social Security. As Rev. Al Sharpton aptly pointed out, we did not share in the prosperity that has created some of the greatest wealth in the country's history, and Social Security does not add one cent to the deficit or debt, why must we share in the sacrifice?

The wealth that has been created and increased for the last three decades has resulted in the greatest disparity in wealth since the Great Depression, increased poverty and decreased the spending power of citizens of this nation.

Small-business owners know that if we do not have a middle class, they will not have customers. It doesn't matter the type of small business, whether a service such as a restaurant or a manufacturer of goods that require someone to purchase them. No one benefits from cuts to middle class incomes, just as no one benefits from the huge number of workers who cannot earn living wages (while the owners of these businesses get rich off our subsidizing their meager salaries).

Because we all pay into Social Security and Medicare from our payroll taxes we have a vested interest in finding ways to ensure that these programs continue to be viable. People who live off of investment income, such as Mitt Romney, do not, that's why that is the only place they can see to cut spending. There are many ways and places to cut spending but the earned benefits are not where that should occur. Tell your members of Congress "Hands off my Social Security and Medicare."

Marilyn Lee

Florence