Printable Version
January 23, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Retiree Advocate Comments on Tonight’s State of the Union Address
Pre -State of the Union Statement by George J. Kourpias, President of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a nationwide grassroots advocacy organization representing three million retired workers:
“Lately we have been hearing a lot from President Bush about how he wants to work together with Congress to find bipartisan solutions to the nation’s problems. Retirement security should be high on that list. Yet if the early indications of the speech hold true, the President will actually hurt bipartisan efforts to help current and future retirees.
“If tonight the President wants to solve problems, not create more gridlock, he could reverse his veto threat of a bipartisan House-passed bill to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. But we are not holding our breath. The White House is ignoring the clear wishes of the voters in last November’s elections who said this was a high priority.
“Secondly, while President Bush is expected to challenge Congress to improve Social Security’s long-term solvency, he is still clinging to the dangerously flawed plan to create privatized Social Security accounts. Even a Republican-controlled Congress made it clear that it wanted nothing to do with simultaneously putting Americans’ retirement in jeopardy and spiking already high deficits. The only winners in this plan would be the big Wall Street firms.
“The
budget plan President Bush sends to Congress
early next month is expected to include
billions of dollars to create these private
accounts. The President’s stated goals of
finding ways to preserve Social Security do not
match his actions, nor are they likely to
produce a bipartisan consensus.
“Third, the President’s health care
proposal with skewed tax credits
disproportionately affects retirees and health
plans with older workforces. This proposal
could hasten the dropping of health care
coverage for retirees.
“This President simply does not listen: not to voters, not to Congressional leaders, and not to seniors. He may talk about not being overly-influenced by public-opinion polls, but he has crossed that line to where he does not listen to what the vast majority of the country wants.”
Contact: Michael Buckley,
202/637-5190 or mbuckley@retiredamericans.org
David
Blank, 202/637-5275 or dblank@retiredamericans.org