COMMENTARY | As someone who's been caring for his elderly parents in their home for three years, I've been watching the Republican presidential race to see how the candidates would help seniors and the family members who care for them. With the approach of the Iowa caucuses, I haven't heard anything encouraging.
According to the Washington Post, Newt Gingrich favors dual systems for Social Security and Medicare. One Social Security system would be public and the other private; one Medicare system would be public and the other private. It's hard to see how these byzantine proposals would help the millions of aging and infirm Americans.
Mitt Romney has compared Social Security to a criminal enterprise, but he has also vowed to keep it exactly as it is. As with so many policies that Romney has both opposed and supported, it's impossible to know what he really thinks.
Rick Perry has also compared Social Security to a criminal conspiracy (a "Ponzi Scheme"), while Ron Paul would gradually privatize it.
Who would benefit from privatization? The proposals from Gingrich, Perry, and Paul would turn over people's retirement money to bankers and Wall Street brokers. They, of course, have a stellar record of honesty and prudence, especially when looking out for the interests of those less fortunate than they are.
The Republican approach to seniors' issues might work well for wealthy families. After all, caring for one's parents is much easier for those who are rich.
But the Republican message for ordinary seniors is that they should pull themselves up by the straps of their wheelchairs. The right-wing insistence that every American is obligated to care for himself wouldn't work too well for my elderly parents, nor for the millions of other seniors who rely on family members for daily care.
In 2008, a stroke destroyed my mother's ability to speak coherently. How is she supposed to live up to the Republican ideal of caring for herself? That same year, a stroke paralyzed my father on the right side. How do the Republicans propose that he care for himself?
Gingrich, Romney, Perry and Paul might say that we caregivers should simply put our elders in nursing homes and get on with our lives. But can America afford this solution? According to AARP, caregivers' work is worth $350 billion a year. If caregivers were allowed to go broke, the nursing-home bills would bury the American taxpayer.
This is why it would make sense to give caregivers, who have made so many personal sacrifices, tax breaks and state-subsidized in-home assistance. It's cheaper to help us than to let us go under.
Having listened to the Republicans, I am now waiting to see what, if anything, President Obama and the Democrats will be proposing to help the 43 million Americans who care for ailing seniors at home.
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