In the upcoming midterm election, I am ignoring all the talk about a “Blue Wave” or a “Red Wave” sweeping Congress and instead I am going to ride the “Retiree Wave” to the ballot box. Retirees are one of the largest and most consistent voting blocs in the country, yet our earned benefits are constantly under attack. Just this month, Xerox announced major retiree healthcare cuts and the Sears bankruptcy has left its 100,000 retirees facing frightening uncertainty. ProtectSeniors.org, a retiree advocacy organization of which I am a member, has a plan that will keep more retirees on their employer-sponsored health insurance, decreasing the cost of Medicare for the federal government. The time has come for our local elected officials to stand up to corporations and tell them enough is enough: Companies must stop forcing taxpayers to pick up the tab when they want to shift away from their responsibilities and cut vital health care benefits from their retirees. When it comes to protecting healthcare, our lives are literally on the line. This year we should all refuse to keep blindly pulling a lever for a candidate that does not support retirees.

Robert Davis Dover