Seniors needle Congress about Medicare

Remember the sit-in? Well, seniors angry about threatened cuts to Medicare have been rallying at a number of New York State banks where they have given the ’60s protest tactic their own twist by holding “knit-ins.” In New York and Long Island, group members have come together to wield their sticks in protest, creating “Save Medicare” blankets that they plan to deliver to Congress, according to the New York Daily News.

“Knitting is a peaceful way to get our message across. We want to give the blankets to Congress so they can see how it feels to get something of peace and love and read our message,” said the group’s spokeswoman JoAnn Henry.

Henry explained that the protest was designed to alert lawmakers to how concerned many seniors are that Medicare will become the victim of the recently passed debt plan, which calls for $1.5 trillion in spending cuts to be decided upon in September. Rather than deprive seniors of their promised Medicare benefits, banks ought to be more heavily taxed, say protesters.

“Banks need to start paying more taxes. They should be sharing the burden of these cuts,” said Henry.