When they overwhelmingly passed Rep. Paul Ryan's radical budget, House Republicans went on the record advocating ending Medicare as we know it to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

It wasn't about saving money, it was about fundamentally altering how our country works -- in a way that leaves seniors and the less fortunate out in the cold.

Their radical budget proposal would force seniors into the private insurance market -- where they'll pay far more and get far less. That's just wrong.

Republicans want to tell Americans who've paid for Medicare throughout their careers that they're on their own -- and that they have to learn to accept less than they've earned. That's just not right.

Supporters of this plan have made a big show of claiming that it will bring costs down, but they're not being honest. It doesn't bring medical costs down -- it just shifts them onto the backs of America's seniors.

No one is trying to hide from the fact that we need to seek out creative and comprehensive solutions to fix our long-term deficit. But trying to do that by telling Americans who've paid for Medicare throughout their careers that they're on their own is unfair and wrong.

Protecting these programs for the future is going to require outside-the-box thinking and difficult choices to bring down medical inflation. In the health care reform bill, I helped pass into law some measures that can improve patient outcomes while reducing unnecessary and wasteful spending. This is the kind of innovation we need.

Our focus has to be on preserving and strengthening our society's safety net. I won't accept any "reform" that, as President Obama has put it, fundamentally alters the way we view our commitment to our seniors, to our country, and to each other.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what the House Republicans' Medicare privatization plan would do.

The good news is our efforts to show how much people oppose their privatization scheme are having an effect. The privatizers are on the defensive, and if we can keep the pressure on, we stand a good chance of stopping this in the Senate when it comes to a vote next week. We can win and protect Medicare, but to do it we need everyone who supports preserving this program to stand up and fight back.

I hope you'll join me and thousands of others who have already signed my petition to the Senate urging them to oppose the House GOP's Medicare privatization scheme. Click here and add your name now -- before the Senate votes next week.