Alliance for Retired Americans Blog

Alliance Lobby Week Comes Just Days Before Sequester Cuts are Set to Kick In

Alliance members scheduled over 70 district meetings with their elected officials for this week’s President’s Day Lobby Week. The appointments came as the Senate is set to vote next week - right after the Congressional recess ends - on a plan to stop the March 1 sequester (automatic budget cuts) without harming Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

On February 14, Senate Democrats released their plan to avert the sequester for the rest of the year — it contains $110 billion in deficit reduction, evenly divided between spending cuts and new revenues. During Lobby Week, Alliance members have been asking senators to vote for this package and asking House members to vote for it should it come to the House.

View Presidents Day Week Lobby Visits and Events in a larger map

Included in the Lobby Week events: a rally and petition drop outside House Speaker John Boehner's (R) office in West Chester, Ohio on Wednesday.  Among those at risk if the cuts come to fruition: homebound and disabled seniors behind closed doors – “the hidden hungry” across the U.S.A., according to Larry Tomayko, interim chief executive officer of the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA). If congressional domestic-spending cuts take effect on March 1, MOWAA faces an estimated 5.1% reduction in Older Americans Act funding. According to Americans for Tax Fairness, a recent Hart Research poll found that found that two-thirds of voters nationwide want the richest 2% (by 66% of voters) and large corporations (by 64% of voters) to pay more in taxes. The poll also found that 59% of voters say that we still need to do more to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes: .

David Cote Faces Protesters after Helping to Create the Simpson-Bowles Plan

Today, several New Hampshire Alliance members were among the 50 protesters who confronted CEO and “Fix the Debt” Leader David Cote over corporate tax breaks in Manchester, NH on Monday. Cote, president of Honeywell International, sat on the president’s Simpson-Bowles National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and has advocated lowering the cost-of-living adjustments of Social Security recipients or raising the age of eligibility. “Instead of reducing the deficit on the backs of working Americans, corporations should pay taxes like the rest of us,” said Charlie Balban, president of the New Hampshire Alliance.

Nashua Telegraph

truthout

New Hampshire Labor News

Join the Alliance in Supporting Locked-Out Sugar Workers

Please join with the Alliance in making a financial contribution to help support American Crystal Sugar workers who have been locked out by a management determined to increase their health care costs and outsource their work. 

American Crystal’s CEO Dave Berg, who was paid nearly $2.5 million in 2011, has publicly referred to his employees who belong to the Bakery workers union as a “cancerous tumor” on the company.  The AFL-CIO has launched a nationwide consumer boycott of American Crystal Sugar products. 

To join with the Alliance in supporting these workers, please click here.

Congress: Keep Your Promise!

Last Thursday, Alliance members joined activists and allies at over 40 events across the country – urging Members of Congress to keep the promises they made during the election season – to expire the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2% and protect the promises of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Please click here to join us in pledging to DO WHAT IT TAKES to inspire our elected leaders to follow through on their promises to protect our vital programs and expire the Bush Tax Cuts.

The election is behind us but the threat is ahead. In order to avoid budget cuts scheduled for January 1, Members of Congress are working to broker a deal. It must not be a deal that works against the issues we fought for all of this year in the lead-up to the election!

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were indeed at the forefront of this year’s debates; Americans spoke out and they chose many candidates who promised to protect these critical programs. Our work is not done, we need to make sure elected officials KEEP THEIR PROMISE to expire Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2% and protect our programs – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Please join us in pledging to DO WHAT IT TAKES to make sure the promise is kept, our programs are protected and the American peoples’ wishes are honored.

Protests Target Plans to Extend Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest Americans

Protesters all across the U.S. gathered on Wednesday outside congressional offices and released short web advertisements targeting Republican economic plans. The protests attacked the Romney-Ryan Plan to make permanent the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. GOP lawmakers who recently voted to extend the tax cuts were also targeted.  The protesters brought with them large five-foot wide checks demonstrating the large sums that would be given to millionaires and billionaires if the Bush tax cuts were extended. The ads and protests were organized by groups including the Alliance for Retired Americans, Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund, Health Care for America Now, Working America, and others. 

Over 125 Ohioans attended the Ohio Alliance convention in Columbus on Wednesday, then turned words into action, participating in four tax fairness events throughout the state – three at Sen. Rob Portman’s offices and one at Rep. Bill Johnson’s.

On Grandparents Day, Generations Unite for Social Security

by John A. Pernorio and John J. Pernorio. John A. Pernorio is the President of the Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans.

As a Grandfather and Father, we hope that this year’s Grandparents Day, September 9th, can inspire different generations to work together to preserve Social Security.

Social Security is one of America’s greatest success stories. For over 75 years, it has helped retirees stay healthy and out of poverty. The senior poverty rate is now five times lower than it used to be. But Social Security is important to more than just seniors. Social Security helps workers who suffer career-ending injuries and illness, as well as children who have lost a parent. We used to be a nation where people worked until they died, but now Social Security gives workers of all ages hope that they may enjoy a safe and secure retirement.

Despite the decades of success, younger people remain quite skeptical about Social Security. A recent poll by the Associated Press showed that only 20 percent of people 35 and under believe they will receive Social Security. Why this cynicism? We believe it is because many in politics and the media perpetuate the false and corrosive myth that Social Security both is going bankrupt and causes our budget deficit. The more this is repeated, the more it is believed – but it is still false.

Here are the facts: Social Security has not added a penny to our deficit. It is fully paid for by worker and employer payroll taxes, and the Social Security Trust Fund has a $2.7 trillion surplus. The talk of greater life expectancy (and the assumption that you should spend those extra years at work!) is misleading. A lower infant mortality rate has raised overall life expectancy, but it has remained nearly the same once people enter adulthood. In fact, any gains that have been made have been almost exclusively for the highest income and education levels, not for the physically-demanding blue collar and service sector workers who would suffer terribly if the retirement age were increased to 70, as some in politics have suggested. John J., for example, has a very demanding physical job and at age 41 has already had a total hip replacement. Continuing at the present occupation to age 70 is not an option.

The average retiree on Social Security receives $1200 per month. If people think the government spends too much, they should not criticize these modest Social Security benefits retirees paid for throughout their working years, but rather tax breaks for big corporations and two long wars that were put on the nation’s credit card. The Social Security Trust Fund could be significantly strengthened for the long-term by simply requiring the highest earners to pay Social Security payroll taxes at the same rate that the rest of American earners do.

Not only is the future of Social Security clouded in misinformation, but it gives too many people the chance to play the politics of divide and conquer. Politicians and pundits try to pit one generation against the other to advance their own agendas. This is insulting because it assumes people only care about themselves and others their own age. People are better than that, and in 2012, life is more complicated than that. Generations are more intertwined than ever before. What affects one person in a family great affects everyone else.

While it often seems like we live in complicated, fractious times, we still believe that more unites us than divides us. Regardless of when and where we were born, or what we do each day, we all want to live a healthy, secure life and enjoy dignity and peace of mind. While September 9 may be officially known as Grandparents Day, we hope it is a day that brings generations together to improve the lives of people of all ages.

Barbara J. Easterling: We Must Educate Younger People About Unions

This Labor Day, I want to encourage you to help younger generations better understand why labor unions are so important. Too many people either know very little about unions, or only know what politicians and Fox News tell them.

I joined a union on my very first day on the job as a telephone operator in Akron, Ohio. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Our generation – and those who came before us – used our rights at work and in the community to create good jobs and good wages. We helped build strong neighborhoods where you could raise a family.

In my experience, a union is the only way workers can earn good pay and be treated with respect and fairness on the job. It’s just too tough any other way. When you look at the powerful interests that workers are up against – whether it is right-wing politicians or cold-hearted corporations – you see how badly the deck is stacked against you if you don’t have a union.

Union retirees can speak firsthand how collective bargaining helps earn the wages and benefits that support families and build strong, stable communities. Collective bargaining directly affects retirement – the better you work, the better you retire. I worry that decades of low wages, little or no health insurance, and inadequate savings are sowing the seeds for a serious retirement security crisis that will affect everyone in our country.

While some politicians mock unions as a cheap way to score political points, we all know the truth – collective bargaining is a backbone of the American middle class. We have a lot to be proud of – so let’s get out there and spread the word!

The AFL-CIO and unions such as ASFCME have young worker outreach programs designed to get younger union members more involved. Learn more about the AFL-CIO's initiatives with young workers here.

HAPPY 77TH BIRTHDAY SOCIAL SECURITY - THANK YOU FDR

A message from John Pernorio, President of the Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans

Today, August 14, 2012, Social Se curity celebrates its 77th birthday. Before Social Security, seniors worked until the day they died because they could never afford to retire. This week, retirees across the country celebrate the program that they contribute to in their working years and can rely on for modest benefits when they need it most. The program is more important than ever with the decline of defined-benefit pensions, plummeting 401ks and scanty savings.

I get upset when I hear politicians or TV commentators talk about how we should cut Social Security benefits. Politicians have talked for a long time about turning Social Security over to Wall Street, cutting benefits and raising the retirement age. Easy for them to say – maybe they have trust funds that the rest of us don’t.

As a retired Teamster, it bothers me when people think that Social Security is a hand-out or a give-away. The truth is we paid for it every day we worked. I know how important Social Security is to our community. Social Security helps seniors, persons with disabilities, widows, and children who have lost a parent. For many of these people, I just don’t know how they would survive without Social Security.

Working men and women paid for their Social Security through taxes that came out of every pay check of their lives, so it has nothing to do with our budget deficit. Our government must honor its commitment to workers, and if we want to lower the deficit, let’s instead take away all those tax breaks for millionaires and big corporations.

What are my children and grandchildren going to do? They are having a hard time of it now, so what will it be like for them when they retire? They’ll definitely need Social Security, so let’s make sure the politicians don’t take it away.

Social Security is a smart, responsible way to prepare for your retirement. A small amount of money comes out of each paycheck, week after week, year after year. Then, when you retire, that money is there for you.

Not only does this make perfect sense, but it’s also something we have earned and deserve. I know we need to lower the budget deficit, but I think we should start with unnecessary corporate tax breaks people don’t need, and not the Social Security that we have worked hard for all our lives.

Some candidates have promoted the ideas of turning Social Security over to Wall Street through privatization, cutting benefits and raising the retirement age to 70. There are better ways to strengthen the Social Security Trust Fund that don’t compromise this important lifeline. And there are definitely better ways to lower our national deficit, which Social Security did not contribute to.

The Most Anti-Senior Ticket Ever!

Here's what Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans said today:

Mitt Romney’s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate locks in place the most anti-senior ticket ever. These two men have admitted – on the record - the threats that they pose to Medicare and Social Security. One of our worst fears is that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will actually keep their promises.

Paul Ryan’s budget plan would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors. He would also make older workers, who have trouble finding health insurance in the private marketplace, wait until they reach age 67 to qualify for Medicare benefits.

Imagine combining this with Mitt Romney’s plan to require Americans in all sectors, including
physically demanding jobs, to work until age 70 before they can be eligible for the Social Security benefits they have earned. The Romney-Ryan team would end guaranteed benefits on both Social Security and Medicare. What did seniors ever do to them?

The Congressional Budget Office projects that under the Ryan budget, federal Medicare expenditures on behalf of an average  new beneficiary would be $400 to $700 (6 to 11 percent) less in 2023, $1,200 to $2,200 (14 to 23 percent) less in 2030, and $5,900 to  $8,000 (35 to 42 percent) less in 2050 than under current law.

The Alliance for Retired Americans will do all it can the next three months to educate seniors on the Romney-Ryan plans for seniors. In the end, we hope that Paul Ryan goes down in history as another losing VP pick who makes future school children ask, ‘What were they thinking?’

Ryan’s plans are clear – and retirees would suffer the most

Senator Tom Harkin Talks to Alliance Activists About the Rebuild America Act

Last Thursday, over 100 Alliance activists from across the country dialed in to hear from U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, about the critical issues of Social Security and pensions. The Senator took questions and spoke about his top legislative priority: Senate Bill 2252, the Rebuild America Act.

The Rebuild America Act includes a number of provisions that strengthen Social Security and retirement security (in addition to other measures that would help to rebuild the middle class). The bill would extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund by phasing out the tax cap so that everyone pays their fair share into Social Security.

The Rebuild America Act will also change the benefit calculations for the annual cost-of-living adjustments or COLA for all Social Security programs by switching over to a price index that takes the expenses incurred by seniors into account. By adjusting the benefit formula, the RAA would increase Social Security benefits on average by $800 per year. Senator Harkin said, “Not only can we not cut Social Security, we have to increase Social Security benefits.” More on this legislation here.

Senator Harkin has showed a strong committment to seniors issues while in Congress. Alliance members were glad for the opportunity to hear from the Senator about this plan that would strengthen Social Security, retirement security and benefit the 99%.  Learn more about the Rebuild America Act here.