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In the months before the deal was reached, two Congressional Committees called upon organizations, advocates and other stakeholders to offer their ideas for strengthening the program's finances. TSCL submitted a set of recommendations in August, and then in September, we met with key aides on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee to discuss our proposal in detail..Does TSCL receive government funding?.Fifty six percent of older adults think we need to invest more in Medicare in order to respond more quickly and effectively to a healthcare crisis like COVID-19, according to a new survey by The Senior Citizens League. "Boosting funding for Medicare is one of the most important issues for older voters this year," says Mary Johnson, a Medicare, and Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League.."Many food companies decrease the size of their containers, while keeping the same price," Joe said in his comments about price increases that he's observed. "Cost increases get masked when container sizes shrink." For example, after last year's hurricanes, a major orange shortage nationwide led to shrinking orange juice bottles. "Brands that originally sold in 64 oz containers, downsized to 59 oz and then to 52 oz - a 20 percent reduction in what our orange juice money buys today," Joe says.."How Republicans' Brilliant Budget Tactic Backfired," Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times, May 28, 2013..Immigration law forbids working in this country without legal authorization and a Social Security Number. Yet millions of "undocumented" immigrant workers are earning income. Illegals often get jobs by using illegally obtained, forged, or invalid Social Security numbers. Employers in turn withhold payroll taxes and report the earnings to the Social Security Administration using those numbers. When the numbers don't match up with the numbers issued by SSA, they go into a special file called the "Earnings Suspense File." Valid numbers issued from the U.S. government are also misused..Borrowing money to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits would not be possible unless that option could win the support of three-fifths of both the House and Senate..TSCL understands that the budget deficit is growing out of hand. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the massive tax reform and budget bills recently adopted by Congress will cost the federal government an estimated .7 trillion over the next ten years. However, TSCL firmly believes that a constitutional balanced budget amendment, that would disproportionately impact seniors and limit the ability of Congress to respond to economic downturns, is not the solution to the problem..For most Americans, the prices of essential prescription drugs are increasing far too rapidly for family budgets to sustain. Many Americans are being forced to choose between paying household bills and purchasing life-saving medications. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation issued a poll last October reporting that 77% of Americans - Democrats, Independents, and Republicans - identified the increasing prices of prescription drugs as their number one health concern.The American people are absolutely right.