For the 3rd time in the history of the Social Security Act, it was announced this morning that there will be NO cost of living raises for Social Security recipients next year. Amazingly, all three times have been since 2010. The reason for the lack of a raise was attributed to the fall of gas prices which, according to our government, offset any rises in over all prices. Now, if that isn't enough, Snap recipients in the state of Alabama are seeing decreases in their benefits. No matter where I looked, there is no percentile quote for Seniors in Alabama who are on food stamps but I do assure one and all that the percentage is huge. So, what do we have here. No raise in S.S., lower Snap, and everyone is talking about a raise in minimum wage, prospective free community colleges, and affording a grant to study shrimp on a tread mill. I do wonder, how much of a raise will our House and Senate vote for themselves before Christmas break? Where's your pen and phone now Mr. Obama? How much of a raise are you getting and how many more rounds of golf, and how many more trips abroad for your family are we, the people who are not getting raises, going to have to pay for? Talk about executive hypocritical greed!!!
@Bobby Cole, Somewhere I heard or read that in this country's seniors are at an all time high percentage of the population, since SS started back in 1913. You know more about politics than I'll ever will, but it seems that this would be the time to try and use that leverage. Why doesn't AARP try to use this to help seniors? Like promoting someone for president that will give seniors a little more consideration than those so far. Maybe we can't change things right now, but with some good organation and good strategy, we might be able to make a difference in two to three years, if we start right now. People like me, look to people like you to help lead us through these presidential campaigns. So where do we start.
It seems to me that AARP puts more of its efforts into promoting the goals of the Democrat Party than they do in fighting for things that might benefit their membership.
Too True Ken! AARP not only backed Obama in both elections but also backed his "UN"-affordable care act. If they truly wanted to help seniors get a break they would have at least lobbied for women who spent most of their lives as housewives and mothers supporting their husbands. Such a lady only gets about $350 a month and if she can't draw on an x husband or dead husband she's pretty much destitute. It sort of goes along with Obama's statement during his first campaign when he said that seniors didn't need to have life saving operations because of the number of years they have left on this planet. We just need to give them their meds and pain killers until they pass. Since I normally do not use bad language, could someone out there who practices such, please say a few words for me!
Every time there is a Republican majority there's terrible cut backs for Americans and especially for Americans Seniors. Another Republican majority was when Pres. Clinton 2nd term-welfare cuts and change devastated many and now there are many homeless people. It seems like the Pres. gets the blame for Republican's doings. We stopped the most recent shut-down ordered by Republican majority with petitions to Congress. To sum it up about govt. shut downs here is an article.
That is so very true, @Ike Willis ! AARP lost a whole lot of their members when they started supporting the Obamacare act, and just about everything else that the president was trying to force down the the throat of the American people. There are some amazing videos on the internet where people actually went to their AARP meetings and tried to change things, since they were supposed to have a say in what AARP supported. Not only were they not allowed to speak up; but some of them were forced to leave. Another one of those videos of a meeting shows the people just walking out on the AARP representative. We get stuff from them every so often trying to induce us to join; but there is NO way that I would even think of doing that. I much prefer American Seniors, which offers most of the same benefits, and is made up of conservative seniors, and not the (mindless) Obama followers. I do not suppose that it will get anywhere; but I went to Donald Trump's website this morning, and actually wrote to him about the terrible treatment we seniors keep getting from Obama, and the loss of our cost of living increase, even though all of the prices are skyrocketing . Here is one of the AARP meetings videos from back when they were first starting to back Obama so much against the member's wishes.
Uh, sorry. AARP contacted Harry Reid's (D) office back in June saying that it was open to budget cuts to Social Security. George Bush (41) put a plan on the table to privatize social security in order to keep the Federal Government's hands off of it, but was out voted by the democrats. If you look back only a few years, you'll find that Social Security has been systematically used to pay for pork projects and small attempts to balance the budget. You'll find that Clinton's administration had their hands deep into the coffers that belonged to the seniors. Government shut downs do not have anything to do with social security because of it's very nature, but can be tampered with. I think also that you will find that the chair of the federal reserve board is a democrat with three more democratic nominees in the wings. Further, since the last elections for the Senate and House the House has sent over 300 bills to the senate to be debated and only a few have been floored but then, not one of those bills was about Social Security. Are there any Republicans in office who are messing with Social Security? No.....they are now called idiots, the same as the Democratic idiots who started this derned mess way back in the Carter years, which took the Reagan administration to straighten out. My next move is to write every senator, congressman and high poobah, wherever they exist and let them know that their heads are on the chopping block at the next election. (even if I do not live in their state)
Yes- I read about this in the local paper this morning and I was a bit shocked but not all that surprised at who it is it is going to effect. I have been on that side of the coin for just about any sort of change you could imagine, so little surprise that when my time comes it will be on the Medicare/SS end of it to. It is tragic that things are going up, this is what the rest of the world that is not retired is currently experiencing. Nothing like watching your health care bill jump up by $50 or more every season while your pay stays stagnant. As far as cheaper energy goes I want to know on what planet that is happening because it is not happening in New York. Gas process have been lower, which helps, but natural gas for heating really isn't. You can be surer then shyte that if the weather turns bad like it did late last winter, early spring, these companies find a way to justify an increase just because of the severe demand. I don't think I have experienced an decrease in home energy cost ever- despite upgrading my furnace and incorporating energy saving measures. As nice as it would be to think writing a few letters would do the trick, I am more in the mindset that the only thing really, that I can control is how I choose to live within the confines of this system. My great grandmother lived in a home in Pennsylvania that never used natural gas, there are alternatives. While it is true that social security is hardly a choice, I don't feel like I am going to be 100% dependent on just that and Obamacare. Plenty of folks lived to be a ripe old age without mandatory health insurance. I am not even going to approach the topic of medication and the elderly... that is a rant for another time.
This is somewhat related to the pending law for pension in the private sector. Our social security pensions for retirees are so small that a senator submitted a proposal to make the minimum monthly pension at 5,000 pesos from the existing 3,000 pesos. That 2,000 peso increase remains pending until now because the people in the social security office said they have no budget for that. Next year is the elections so I guess that issue will be used to get votes from the retirees.
What does the price of gas have to do with expenses of seniors? Nothing! Retired people don't drive back and forth to work every day. I use more gas in my lawnmower than in my truck. The cost of food, medical insurance, heating and cooling a home are things that should be used to determine Social Security COLAs.
Right on Sheldon Scott. I haven't owned a car for most of 10 years now. I still have all those other expenses though.
I'm sending cases of this to congress. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...b4b10bc900486c4c8c4883a9ee6d1a52H0&ajaxhist=0
Has anyone noticed, that beyond 3 or 4 days ago when the Social Security bomb was dropped, very little if anything has been said about it in the main stream media? It might be handy if seniors would start writing and calling their local stations, newspaper letters to the editor, not to exclude CNBC, FOX, CNN, and the dreaded MSNBC. My wife thought of a good one and wrote Trump! Perhaps it might be filtered in about the concerns of seniors (which include Veterans who are now seniors) who are hurt by the advent of the social security debacle. He doesn't seem to mind bringing up topics that pique the attention of the American people and right now I personally deem the nil raise as that of a hot topic. A raise wouldn't be that much but, if a person has to pay a co-pay for their scrips that aren't totally covered by medicare, it might make up for that 2 bean and up payment that has to be paid every month for however many meds. At this point in our economy, every buck counts!!