Letter: Garamendi will protect Medicare

Voters in the newly created 3rd Congressional District are being targeted by a totally misleading campaign against Democratic Congressman John Garamendi who is running for re-election in 2012.

Using phrases such as "If John Garamendi had his way, he would end Medicare as we know it" and "This is not the John Garamendi that I remember."

A super-PAC called Americans for Accountability in Leadership is using Garamendi's longtime support of a "single-payer" health plan as a means of scaring seniors into thinking this is a threat to the future of Medicare.

Garamendi's steadfast commitment to protecting Medicare and Social Security is amply proven by his having helped pass bills :

1. Ensuring free preventative care for Medicare recipients;

2. Saving 5.3 million seniors an average of $600 each on prescription medication;

3. Reducing fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare for a savings of over $130 billion; and;

4. Extending Medicare's solvency by an additional eight years.

These measures have resulted in the slowest rate of increase in health care costs in all but one of the past 50 years. Garamendi voted for the Affordable Care Act and continues to support it. As this plan gets implemented in the next few years, health care for all Americans will become more affordable and more inclusive. The return of Garamendi to Congress as our representative will only benefit and not threaten Medicare.

Linda Baumann

Davis