Friday Alert Archives

While negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner remain stalled, disturbing media reports indicate an option on the table changing the federal statistical formula used to calculate Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). “This would lower Social Security benefits for millions of seniors. Social Security did not cause our federal deficit, and retirees should not pay the price for more tax breaks for millionaires,” said Alliance President Barbara J. Easterling.

Known in policy circles as the “chained CPI,” the policy change would mean that an average earner retiring in 2011 at age 65 would lose over $6,000 over 15 years.  The change assumes that a lower COLA is acceptable because consumers could substitute cheaper products when prices go up.  Health care costs, however, consume a large amount of seniors’ income.  These costs cannot simply be substituted with a cheaper version. For example, a senior cannot save money by opting for a double bypass surgery instead of a triple bypass.  Share an Alliance fact sheet on the “chained  CPI” – http://bit.ly/Zm31wV.

One of President Barack Obama's top Senate allies says he's been assured by the White House that the President won't yield to GOP demands to increase the eligibility age for Medicare. AP reports that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) made the revelation to reporters on Thursday, after a Capitol Hill news conference.

Maryland/DC Alliance member David Waugh of Bethesda, Maryland had lunch with Vice President Joe Biden today. Waugh was selected to attend the lunch at an Arlington, Virginia diner, because he and his wife are part of the 98% of Americans whose taxes will go up if Congress doesn’t act to extend the middle class tax cuts. Waugh has stated that allowing middle tax class cuts to expire would mean increased difficulties in meeting monthly living expenses such as rent, utilities, car expenses, health care needs, and food.

Top officials who have been involved in the "fiscal cliff" talks for many months say the parameters of a deal — including the size of tax hikes and spending cuts it will most likely contain — are starting to take shape. Earlier this week, White House spokesman Jay Carney had said that Social Security is one program that should be addressed on a “separate track,” telling reporters that the country should address the drivers of the deficit, and that Social Security currently is not driving the deficit.

With the election over, all eyes are focused on the lame-duck session of Congress and the battle to come to a budget agreement to avert the fiscal cliff, a combination of automatic tax increases and massive budget cuts set to go into effect at the end of this year. President Barack Obama is entering negotiations with Congressional leaders and seeking $1.6 trillion in new revenues through taxes aimed at the wealthiest Americans and corporations. 

President Barack Obama won re-election over Republican Mitt Romney, gaining at least 303 electoral votes Tuesday night - 33 more than the 270 needed for victory. The President also leads in Florida, but results in that state are not yet final. In the U.S. Senate, Democrats defied the odds to increase their thin majority. If newly-elected Independent Angus King of Maine decides to caucus with the Democrats, the Democratic Party will have picked up two seats, for a 55-45 majority.

Election Day - Tuesday, November 6 - is now just four days away. “I want to thank all of our activists who have been working tirelessly, planning ahead for months,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance. “Now is not the time to let up. We must decide if we want to elect a President who represents all of us, or just a select few.”

Nearly 70,000 members of the Alliance for Retired Americans joined a call this week with Vice President Joe Biden to learn more about the Obama Administration’s commitment to keeping Medicare and Social Security strong for future generations. Members in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin took part in the call. Almost 1,000 of those swing state callers said they would like to volunteer between now and the election for the Obama campaign!

More than 56 million Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment for 2013, U.S. government officials announced on Tuesday. For the average retiree recipient, the monthly benefit will rise by $21, to $1,261. The level of taxable maximum earnings for Social Security will increase to $113,700 in 2013.

Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan got their turn in the spotlight Thursday night, debating the issues in a 90-minute session at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. They differed sharply over how best to ensure the solvency of Medicare and Social Security. Biden said the GOP Medicare plan, which would provide seniors a fixed amount of money to either buy into the government program or obtain private health insurance, amounted to a “voucher program” that he said would raise costs for future seniors.