Outright lies

The great strength of America is our open discourse and free press, but when those freedoms are abused to spread lies and misinformation in the name of some other agenda, I have to speak out and correct the record.

The information provided to your readers in a Jan. 27 letter by Ron Dixon of Weeki Wachee was false and misleading. Dixon claims to be "quite familiar" with my record in Congress but, judging by his comments, he is either intentionally wrong or woefully unfamiliar with government.

First and foremost, you should know members of Congress will receive no pay increase for 2010, and I was proud to vote in favor of the legislation that made this possible. It is also important to note in the short time I have been your representative in Congress, I have voted against yearly increases in Congressional pay.

Unfortunately, it took a severe recession for some of my colleagues to finally come around to my stance on forgoing Congressional pay raises.

Beyond being misinformed about Congressional pay, Dixon seems to lack any knowledge about the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) and Medicare Part B premiums. If Mr. Dixon took a few seconds to research his claims he would know the Social Security COLA is based on a statutory formula that has been in effect since 1975. Congress did not vote to eliminate the COLA for 2010 and, contrary to Dixon's claim, there is still a possibility, albeit slim, that there may actually be a COLA for 2011.

Furthermore, if Dixon simply visited my Web site he would know I have been leading the charge to re-calculate the formula used to calculate the Social Security COLA. He would also know I introduced legislation last fall to provide Social Security beneficiaries and veterans with a $250 one-time payment in lieu of the 2010 COLA. This legislation is paid for by using unspent money from President Barack Obama's failed stimulus package.

Finally, Dixon conveniently omitted what is known as the Medicare hold harmless provision. With a few exceptions, this provision prevents any increase in Medicare Part B premiums if there is no Social Security COLA that year. This means 75 percent of Medicare Part B beneficiaries will not see an increase in their Medicare Part B premiums for 2010. To address the remaining 25 percent, in September the House considered 1-I.R. 3631, the Medicare Premium Fairness Act. This bill would have prevented any increase in Medicare Part B premiums for 2010, and I was proud to vote in support of that legislation.

Unfortunately, the Senate never took up that legislation because they were too consumed with ObamaCare. Now the American public has roundly rejected ObamaCare, I hope the Senate will make the time to pass the Medicare Premium Fairness Act.

The lesson to be learned here is anyone can write a letter to the editor, even if they have zero knowledge on the subject. The same holds true for the Internet and many of the e-mails being forwarded around the country. I answer thousands of e-mails from constituents every month that contain misinformation and in some cases outright lies.

President Ronald Reagan was right, "Trust but verify." My office is always available to answer any questions you may have, so please use it as a resource when trying to discern fact from fiction.

U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite

R-Brooksville