Press Releases

The Alliance for Retired Americans today released its 2010 Congressional Voting Record, detailing the votes of every U.S. Senator and Representative on key issues affecting current and future retirees.

“At a time when Congress has been debating the future of Social Security and Medicare, it is more important than ever that people of all ages know the issues and how their elected officials voted,” said Alliance President Barbara J. Easterling.

Threats to Medicare Play Key Role in Tuesday’s Special Election

“The outcome of the special election in New York’s 26th congressional district was greatly shaped by concern over a recent U.S. House vote to privatize Medicare and create an inadequate voucher program for retirees that would be run by health insurance companies.

"The April 15 Medicare vote troubled both seniors and workers.  For retirees already struggling to get by, these proposed changes would be devastating.  Many workers today are worrying that they will never be able to retire.

The Alliance for Retired Americans begins airing radio ads today protesting Republican budget cuts to Medicare and Social Security. The ad will air in Colorado, Missouri, and West Virginia for 7 days.

Seniors, workers and residents from around the nation are holding events next week, many in their old work uniforms, to protest budget cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, all of which have been recently voted on in Congress.  The events are part of a national week of action called “Don’t Make Us Work ’Til We Die,” which are taking place in states including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Vermont, and Wisconsin during the week of April 25. Nationally, these events are sponsored by the Alliance for Retired Americans and the Strengthen Social Security Campaign, a coalition of more than 300 other national and state organizations.  

The following statement was issued today by Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans:

“Retirees support President Obama’s call to lower our federal budget deficit.  Older Americans do not want a large debt to be the legacy we leave behind for our children and grandchildren.

The following statement was issued today by Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans:

"Paul Ryan's budget proposal takes better care of CEOs in corporate towers than it does seniors in nursing homes.

Marking the one-year anniversary of President Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, activists with the Alliance for Retired Americans are this week holding events around the country and writing their elected officials in support of new benefits that help retirees better afford to see a doctor and fill a prescription.

The following statement was issued today by Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans:

“The Alliance for Retired Americans, a grassroots advocacy organization with over 4 million members, is outraged by the cold-hearted ways in which House Republicans are trying to lower the budget deficit on the backs of seniors, persons with disabilities, and young survivors.

“Their plan would create massive furloughs – shutting down the entire agency for 20 working days.  This would be devastating for the people in our country who are most in need.  For example:

•    Phones and offices would be shut down, leaving current recipients who have questions or concerns unable to get the help they need.  3.6 million people visit Social Security offices each month.  Social Security receives 119,000 calls a day to its field offices and 280,000 calls a day to its 800 number. A twenty-day furlough would block 8 million callers who need immediate help;

Responses to State of Union Address Show Party’s True Colors

For Immediate Release

The following statement was issued today by Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans:

“Retirees who count on Social Security and Medicare to make ends meet should be concerned by the House Republicans who will respond to President Obama’s State of the Union Address, Reps. Paul Ryan, chair of the House Budget Committee, and Michele Bachman, founder of the House Tea Party Caucus. 

“Ryan’s self-touted ‘Roadmap’ would be a dead end for retirees.  It would turn a privatized Social Security over to Wall Street, cut benefits, and raise the retirement age.  It would end Medicare as we know it, turning it into a voucher program that would have many seniors paying more money for less medical coverage.


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Joint Letter Critical of False Budget Claims

For Immediate Release

Washington DC – Thirty state retiree leaders today told President Obama that he has “the opportunity to renew the nation’s commitment to the Social Security program during the State of the Union Address” and urged him to reject false claims that Social Security increases the federal budget deficit.

In a joint letter signed by 30 presidents of state chapters of the Alliance for Retired Americans, the retiree leaders said they are concerned that “many in Washington will try to take advantage of the nation’s current debt situation and cause permanent damage to the Social Security program.”   The co-signers wrote that the program is fully-financed by worker and employer contributions and that the “current debt situation should not be a political cover for attacking Social Security.”

Noting recent moves to cut benefits and raise the retirement age, the state retiree leaders wrote to the President, “we strongly urge you to resist such efforts... the debate over the current debt situation is not the forum for debating the future of Social Security.”

For a copy of the letter, go to http://bit.ly/dK1pBa.

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