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The members of Congress' deficit-reduction "supercommittee" should be on notice: When the time comes to pay to clean up the mess that Wall Street’s excesses caused in our economy, Americans will not accept having the bill sent to seniors, the vulnerable, the ill and the disabled.

Today, some Democrats on the supercommittee put on the table a plan that would include deep cuts in Medicare and other health problems. The proposal is not one of shared sacrifice, at a time when the top 1 percent of Americans have as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. We are pleased to praise Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., for refusing to go along with his Democratic colleagues.

The wealthy have had their incomes rise and their tax rates decline – it’s not shared sacrifice to balance taxes on millionaires with cuts to Medicare, or Social Security or other programs that protect people who need help.

We urge the Super Committee to send the bill to those that had the party. If they are looking for revenue raisers:

• Tax speculation on Wall Street.
• Raise taxes on the millionaires and billionaires.
• Scale back the military budget.

We believe that any plan from the supercommittee should begin with a jobs agenda. Austerity measures should not begin until hard working Americans are able to go back to work.

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