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1703, 2015

GOP Budget: Doubling-Down on Their Strategy to Destroy Medicare

By |March 17th, 2015|Budget, Medicare, privatization, Social Security|

Well, the GOP Budget Has Defined its Fiscal Priorities For America Alright…Middle-class Americans, Retirees, Children, People with Disabilities, and the Poor Foot the Bill So That Huge Corporations and the Wealthy Keep Tax Giveaways and Loopholes

Budget plans are about setting priorities and in a grander sense defining the nation’s values.  By the look of next year’s proposed GOP House Budget, that means conservatives in Washington intend to double-down on an economic vision in which our dwindling middle-class, America’s retirees, people with disabilities, the poor and their families continue to do the heavy-lifting so that the richest 1% can keep their tax breaks and loopholes. 

Here’s our reaction from NCPSSM President/CEO, Max Richtman:

“Once again, the House GOP’s budget would privatize Medicare with a voucher plan, leaving seniors and the disabled – some of our most vulnerable Americans – hostage to the whims of private insurance companies.  Over time, this will end traditional Medicare and make it harder for seniors to choose their own doctor.  Vouchers will not keep up with the increasing cost of health insurance… that is why seniors will pay more.  Incredibly, the GOP budget also tries to have it both ways by counting the savings in Medicare since the passage of health care reform and then repealing the law that delivered those same savings. Seniors need to pay careful attention to this next fact: if the GOP isn’t stopped from repealing healthcare reform, Medicare beneficiaries would immediately lose billions in prescription drug savings, wellness visits and preventative services with no out-of-pocket costs, and years of solvency will be lost to the Medicare program. 

Social Security disability beneficiaries are also targeted by the GOP’s refusal to allow a routine and temporary reallocation of part of the 6.2 percent Social Security tax rate to the Disability Insurance Trust Fund.  Instead, Republicans in the House would allow a 20% benefit cut for millions of disabled Americans unless there are broader Social Security benefit cuts or tax increases improving the solvency of the combined trust funds.  This GOP budget also call for the creation of commission to study what Republicans claim are ‘structural deficiencies’ in Social Security, even though the program has never missed a payment and currently has $2.8 trillion in its trust fund. 

No doubt, Congressional conservatives feel emboldened by the 2014 elections; however, I suggest the message voters sent wasn’t the message the GOP is touting in this new budget.  The American people do not support gutting Social Security and Medicare and targeting the middle-class to pay for tax cuts and loopholes for corporations and the wealthy – which is the foundation the House GOP budget plan is built upon.” … Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO

 

 

 

 


1203, 2015

Americans Push Back as Threat to Social Security & Medicare Grows

By |March 12th, 2015|Max Richtman, Medicare, Social Security|

National Committee grassroots activists were on Capitol Hill today to deliver 2 million signatures to the Senate urging Congress to reject ongoing efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.  Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) received the petitions and vowed to continue leading the fight to protect these vital programs. 

 

 

 

 

The timing for today’s impressive show of grassroots action couldn’t have been better because according the The Hill newspaper, some in the Senate are looking at crafting yet another attack on middle-class benefits known as the so-called “Grand Bargain”. 

You’ll probably remember that this flawed fiscal plan was first offered by chairmen of the failed fiscal commission, Erskin Bowles and Alan Simpson, who had to issue their own report after they couldn’t get enough support by their own Commission.  They took their Bowles/Simpson report (BS for short) on the road, backed by the billion dollar Wall Street anti-“entitlement” lobby, hoping to sell the idea that cutting middle class earned benefits and raising middle class taxes while also lowering taxes (even more) for the richest Americans was the path to fiscal sanity.   No one was buying it then but that was before the GOP took control of the Senate.

Now, it appears corporatists of both parties in Senate hope to revive the BS “grand bargain”.

 “He (Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) said he was willing to close “loopholes” in the tax code if Democrats were willing to make concessions on entitlements. That’s the ideological problem for some Republicans, but not for me. I would generate some revenue by capping deductions in the tax code if Democrats help me make some small entitlement changes that buy it back…a mini Simpson-Bowles,’ he said.”

We’ve already seen this “let’s make a deal” gamesmanship many times before.  The problem is those “loopholes” Republicans are willing to close are the tax breaks that impact average Americans like the mortgage interest deduction and targeting retirement savings and health insurance.  They’re not interested in going after the trillions lost to corporations sending jobs overseas or gaming the system to avoid taxes entirely or lifting the payroll tax cap or instituting a financial transactions tax. 

You can see why this plan is truly a “grand bargain” for America’s billionaires, the Business Roundtable and their supporters in Congress.  It’s just a raw deal for everyone else.

 

 


303, 2015

Washington Fiction & Hollywood Fiction: More Political Lies about Social Security

By |March 3rd, 2015|entitlement reform, Social Security|

Several years ago, we asked the question “What Will a Billion dollars Buy You?”  At that time, we were covering the billion dollar Wall Street campaign to cut Social Security and Medicare by those who want to protect tax breaks and the income inequality which has lined the pockets of America’s corporations and wealthy.  This week it appears the anti-Social Security propaganda favored by these Wall Street lobbyists has also now found a home in the popular political drama “House of Cards.”  Turns out that the show’s consultant runs one of the many groups funded by former Wall Streeter and anti-Social Security scold, Pete Peterson, who’s invested his own personal fortune to a national campaign to cut back benefits in Social Security and Medicare.

Richard Eskow at Campaign for America’s Future details the connection: 

“Episode One’s credits list Jim Kessler as a consultant. Kessler is, as his IMDB biography notes, the co-founder of Third Way. That’s a Wall Street-funded, so-called “centrist” Democratic organization with a mission: to promote neoliberal economics and make the world safe (at least financially) for its wealthy patrons.

Third Way has consistently misrepresented the financial condition of Social Security, misdirected the public debate about Medicare, and generally promoted the socially liberal but fiscally conservative worldview of its patrons.

Kessler and co-founder Jon Cowan carefully tiptoed their way through the minefield of public opinion for years, pretending to be technocrats rather than de facto lobbyists for powerful interests. They finally lost their balance last year. When confronted with the rise of Elizabeth Warren and the populist wing of the Democratic Party, they lashed out at Sen. Warren with an intemperate Wall Street Journal op-ed.”

We highly recommend you read Eskow’s entire post to see just how perfectly the Third Way, Pete Peterson propaganda is scripted into the characters of “House of Cards”.  Here’s just a sample:

“Underwood continues: “This (the number $32,781, displayed on a flip chart) is what the average senior gets in one year from entitlements …This money is a job we could be giving to a single mother or a student just out of school. Now at the moment, 44 cents of every tax dollar goes to pay for these programs. By 2030, it’ll be over half, 62 cents.”

“Entitlements are bankrupting us,” he concludes.

Except that they’re not. Social Security accounts for 24 percent of the federal budget, but it is forbidden by law from adding to the overall deficit. What’s more, its trust fund is currently holding $2.8 trillion dollars in reserves. The statement is meaningless.

In Episode Two, Underwood gives a “bold” speech outlining his plan. It begins:

“For too long, we in Washington have been lying to you. We say we’re here to serve you, when in fact, we’re serving ourselves. And why? We are driven by our own desire to get reelected …”

That’s another favored trope: that the corporate politicians are courageous (as if it’s brave to serve the wealthy and powerful!), while their opponents are cravenly pandering to the voters – by representing them.

“That ends tonight,” says Underwood. “Tonight, I give you the truth.”

There’s that idea again, that the corporate version of reality is “fact” or “truth.” We’re told that “the root of the problem” is “entitlements” – a favorite word in the corporate crowd because it has negative connotations. (We’ve written about that before.)

“Let me be clear,” adds Underwood. “You are entitled to nothing …”

Just like real-life Third Way types, Underwood is trying to cancel our nation’s social contract.

It’s easy enough to say “don’t worry, this is just fiction” but the problem is that a growing number of Americans don’t get their news from independent news sources anymore…they get it from everywhere else.  Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart continues to be among the nation’s most trusted “news sources” even as he hosts a comedy show.  It’s not that big of a stretch to believe that viewers hearing the fictional politician, Frank Underwood, recite the same propaganda they also hear constantly from the billion dollar anti-Social Security lobby and their real-world political allies on Capitol Hill only helps to validate this factually flawed view

This type of Wall Street messaging fits the very definition of propaganda and how best to use it in the real world of politics, not just the made-for-television variety:                        

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.”…Joseph Goebbels

 

 

 


2702, 2015

Cutting Social Security Disability Threatens Millions of American Families

By |February 27th, 2015|Aging Issues, Disability, Social Security|

One of Congress’ strongest champions for strengthening and boosting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is Rep. Gwen Moore from Wisconsin.  Congresswoman Moore has also been an effective voice in Congress for measures that focus on improving the economic and employment conditions in low-income communities.  We’re so glad she’s agreed to share her views with us on the current Congress, Black History month and recent attempts to target Americans with disabilities by the GOP leadership in the House. 

 


 

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)

Each February, we are reminded of our country’s greatest African American leaders with the celebration of Black History Month. Black History Month provides us an opportunity not only to reflect on those who advocate on behalf of the African American community, but also to examine the critical concerns and issues facing African Americans today. Even with all of the progress made over the past half-century, African Americans still represent a disproportionate share of our nation’s poor. As we work to change the underlying causes for this reality, we must also make sure we’re providing an adequate safety net to prevent further harm of those who are already struggling to get by.

There is no program more vital to protecting those who are battling poverty than Social Security. Not only is Social Security responsible for allowing millions of Americans to enjoy a comfortable retirement after a life of hard work, but also provides insurance for more than 90% of American workers in the event of a debilitating accident or illness through the Disability Insurance program.

On the first day of the 114th Congress, House Republicans pushed through a rule change regarding the Social Security trust funds that would prevent the routine transfer of funds between the retirement and disability accounts. Without the ability to transfer funds, the Disability Trust Fund will be forced to cut all benefits by 20% in 2016. That’s 20% from a paycheck that already is not enough to keep 1.6 million people out of poverty.

A harsh truth we must come to terms with is that one out of every three young workers new to the labor force will either die or need Disability Insurance before they turn 67.  Those odds get even worse for African American workers, who make up a disproportionate percentage of Disability Insurance beneficiaries.  An unexpected disability or illness can be devastating to an individual or family, but the Disability Insurance program supplies protection to soften the blow of an immediate loss of income. While the benefits are modest, averaging around $1100 a month, they still represent the main or only source of income for over 80% of beneficiaries.  Nearly one in five beneficiaries live in poverty, which translates to roughly 1.6 million people, or approximately the population of greater metropolitan Milwaukee, my home city.

Obviously, this critical program needs more funding, but my congressional colleagues across the aisle continue to stand in the way. The rule change proposed by House Republicans was slipped under the wire as a procedural fix. But let’s call it what it is: a brazen attack on our nation’s most vulnerable. These are people who paid their dues to Social Security while they were in the labor force who are now in need of the services they paid into.

Now is not the time to weaken the Disability Insurance program, but rather we should be strengthening it. One of the major lingering effects of the recession is the sharp increase in long-term unemployment. While this number is now on the decline for the overall population, disabled workers continue to struggle to find gainful employment. Cutting what meager benefits they have now would be a death sentence.

This Black History Month, instead of only reflecting on the African Americans of the past, we should also make sure we are taking care of the African Americans of today and tomorrow. Cutting benefits to the Disability Insurance program would disproportionately affect African Americans. I believe in a vision of government where we take care of those who have fallen on hard times due to disability. Black History Month serves as a good means to highlight these issues, but I will keep fighting for this vision all year-round, day-in and day-out, until every American receives the assistance they need to live a prosperous life.

 


GOP Budget: Doubling-Down on Their Strategy to Destroy Medicare

By |March 17th, 2015|Budget, Medicare, privatization, Social Security|

Well, the GOP Budget Has Defined its Fiscal Priorities For America Alright…Middle-class Americans, Retirees, Children, People with Disabilities, and the Poor Foot the Bill So That Huge Corporations and the Wealthy Keep Tax Giveaways and Loopholes

Budget plans are about setting priorities and in a grander sense defining the nation’s values.  By the look of next year’s proposed GOP House Budget, that means conservatives in Washington intend to double-down on an economic vision in which our dwindling middle-class, America’s retirees, people with disabilities, the poor and their families continue to do the heavy-lifting so that the richest 1% can keep their tax breaks and loopholes. 

Here’s our reaction from NCPSSM President/CEO, Max Richtman:

“Once again, the House GOP’s budget would privatize Medicare with a voucher plan, leaving seniors and the disabled – some of our most vulnerable Americans – hostage to the whims of private insurance companies.  Over time, this will end traditional Medicare and make it harder for seniors to choose their own doctor.  Vouchers will not keep up with the increasing cost of health insurance… that is why seniors will pay more.  Incredibly, the GOP budget also tries to have it both ways by counting the savings in Medicare since the passage of health care reform and then repealing the law that delivered those same savings. Seniors need to pay careful attention to this next fact: if the GOP isn’t stopped from repealing healthcare reform, Medicare beneficiaries would immediately lose billions in prescription drug savings, wellness visits and preventative services with no out-of-pocket costs, and years of solvency will be lost to the Medicare program. 

Social Security disability beneficiaries are also targeted by the GOP’s refusal to allow a routine and temporary reallocation of part of the 6.2 percent Social Security tax rate to the Disability Insurance Trust Fund.  Instead, Republicans in the House would allow a 20% benefit cut for millions of disabled Americans unless there are broader Social Security benefit cuts or tax increases improving the solvency of the combined trust funds.  This GOP budget also call for the creation of commission to study what Republicans claim are ‘structural deficiencies’ in Social Security, even though the program has never missed a payment and currently has $2.8 trillion in its trust fund. 

No doubt, Congressional conservatives feel emboldened by the 2014 elections; however, I suggest the message voters sent wasn’t the message the GOP is touting in this new budget.  The American people do not support gutting Social Security and Medicare and targeting the middle-class to pay for tax cuts and loopholes for corporations and the wealthy – which is the foundation the House GOP budget plan is built upon.” … Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO

 

 

 

 


Americans Push Back as Threat to Social Security & Medicare Grows

By |March 12th, 2015|Max Richtman, Medicare, Social Security|

National Committee grassroots activists were on Capitol Hill today to deliver 2 million signatures to the Senate urging Congress to reject ongoing efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.  Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) received the petitions and vowed to continue leading the fight to protect these vital programs. 

 

 

 

 

The timing for today’s impressive show of grassroots action couldn’t have been better because according the The Hill newspaper, some in the Senate are looking at crafting yet another attack on middle-class benefits known as the so-called “Grand Bargain”. 

You’ll probably remember that this flawed fiscal plan was first offered by chairmen of the failed fiscal commission, Erskin Bowles and Alan Simpson, who had to issue their own report after they couldn’t get enough support by their own Commission.  They took their Bowles/Simpson report (BS for short) on the road, backed by the billion dollar Wall Street anti-“entitlement” lobby, hoping to sell the idea that cutting middle class earned benefits and raising middle class taxes while also lowering taxes (even more) for the richest Americans was the path to fiscal sanity.   No one was buying it then but that was before the GOP took control of the Senate.

Now, it appears corporatists of both parties in Senate hope to revive the BS “grand bargain”.

 “He (Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) said he was willing to close “loopholes” in the tax code if Democrats were willing to make concessions on entitlements. That’s the ideological problem for some Republicans, but not for me. I would generate some revenue by capping deductions in the tax code if Democrats help me make some small entitlement changes that buy it back…a mini Simpson-Bowles,’ he said.”

We’ve already seen this “let’s make a deal” gamesmanship many times before.  The problem is those “loopholes” Republicans are willing to close are the tax breaks that impact average Americans like the mortgage interest deduction and targeting retirement savings and health insurance.  They’re not interested in going after the trillions lost to corporations sending jobs overseas or gaming the system to avoid taxes entirely or lifting the payroll tax cap or instituting a financial transactions tax. 

You can see why this plan is truly a “grand bargain” for America’s billionaires, the Business Roundtable and their supporters in Congress.  It’s just a raw deal for everyone else.

 

 


Washington Fiction & Hollywood Fiction: More Political Lies about Social Security

By |March 3rd, 2015|entitlement reform, Social Security|

Several years ago, we asked the question “What Will a Billion dollars Buy You?”  At that time, we were covering the billion dollar Wall Street campaign to cut Social Security and Medicare by those who want to protect tax breaks and the income inequality which has lined the pockets of America’s corporations and wealthy.  This week it appears the anti-Social Security propaganda favored by these Wall Street lobbyists has also now found a home in the popular political drama “House of Cards.”  Turns out that the show’s consultant runs one of the many groups funded by former Wall Streeter and anti-Social Security scold, Pete Peterson, who’s invested his own personal fortune to a national campaign to cut back benefits in Social Security and Medicare.

Richard Eskow at Campaign for America’s Future details the connection: 

“Episode One’s credits list Jim Kessler as a consultant. Kessler is, as his IMDB biography notes, the co-founder of Third Way. That’s a Wall Street-funded, so-called “centrist” Democratic organization with a mission: to promote neoliberal economics and make the world safe (at least financially) for its wealthy patrons.

Third Way has consistently misrepresented the financial condition of Social Security, misdirected the public debate about Medicare, and generally promoted the socially liberal but fiscally conservative worldview of its patrons.

Kessler and co-founder Jon Cowan carefully tiptoed their way through the minefield of public opinion for years, pretending to be technocrats rather than de facto lobbyists for powerful interests. They finally lost their balance last year. When confronted with the rise of Elizabeth Warren and the populist wing of the Democratic Party, they lashed out at Sen. Warren with an intemperate Wall Street Journal op-ed.”

We highly recommend you read Eskow’s entire post to see just how perfectly the Third Way, Pete Peterson propaganda is scripted into the characters of “House of Cards”.  Here’s just a sample:

“Underwood continues: “This (the number $32,781, displayed on a flip chart) is what the average senior gets in one year from entitlements …This money is a job we could be giving to a single mother or a student just out of school. Now at the moment, 44 cents of every tax dollar goes to pay for these programs. By 2030, it’ll be over half, 62 cents.”

“Entitlements are bankrupting us,” he concludes.

Except that they’re not. Social Security accounts for 24 percent of the federal budget, but it is forbidden by law from adding to the overall deficit. What’s more, its trust fund is currently holding $2.8 trillion dollars in reserves. The statement is meaningless.

In Episode Two, Underwood gives a “bold” speech outlining his plan. It begins:

“For too long, we in Washington have been lying to you. We say we’re here to serve you, when in fact, we’re serving ourselves. And why? We are driven by our own desire to get reelected …”

That’s another favored trope: that the corporate politicians are courageous (as if it’s brave to serve the wealthy and powerful!), while their opponents are cravenly pandering to the voters – by representing them.

“That ends tonight,” says Underwood. “Tonight, I give you the truth.”

There’s that idea again, that the corporate version of reality is “fact” or “truth.” We’re told that “the root of the problem” is “entitlements” – a favorite word in the corporate crowd because it has negative connotations. (We’ve written about that before.)

“Let me be clear,” adds Underwood. “You are entitled to nothing …”

Just like real-life Third Way types, Underwood is trying to cancel our nation’s social contract.

It’s easy enough to say “don’t worry, this is just fiction” but the problem is that a growing number of Americans don’t get their news from independent news sources anymore…they get it from everywhere else.  Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart continues to be among the nation’s most trusted “news sources” even as he hosts a comedy show.  It’s not that big of a stretch to believe that viewers hearing the fictional politician, Frank Underwood, recite the same propaganda they also hear constantly from the billion dollar anti-Social Security lobby and their real-world political allies on Capitol Hill only helps to validate this factually flawed view

This type of Wall Street messaging fits the very definition of propaganda and how best to use it in the real world of politics, not just the made-for-television variety:                        

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.”…Joseph Goebbels

 

 

 


Cutting Social Security Disability Threatens Millions of American Families

By |February 27th, 2015|Aging Issues, Disability, Social Security|

One of Congress’ strongest champions for strengthening and boosting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is Rep. Gwen Moore from Wisconsin.  Congresswoman Moore has also been an effective voice in Congress for measures that focus on improving the economic and employment conditions in low-income communities.  We’re so glad she’s agreed to share her views with us on the current Congress, Black History month and recent attempts to target Americans with disabilities by the GOP leadership in the House. 

 


 

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)

Each February, we are reminded of our country’s greatest African American leaders with the celebration of Black History Month. Black History Month provides us an opportunity not only to reflect on those who advocate on behalf of the African American community, but also to examine the critical concerns and issues facing African Americans today. Even with all of the progress made over the past half-century, African Americans still represent a disproportionate share of our nation’s poor. As we work to change the underlying causes for this reality, we must also make sure we’re providing an adequate safety net to prevent further harm of those who are already struggling to get by.

There is no program more vital to protecting those who are battling poverty than Social Security. Not only is Social Security responsible for allowing millions of Americans to enjoy a comfortable retirement after a life of hard work, but also provides insurance for more than 90% of American workers in the event of a debilitating accident or illness through the Disability Insurance program.

On the first day of the 114th Congress, House Republicans pushed through a rule change regarding the Social Security trust funds that would prevent the routine transfer of funds between the retirement and disability accounts. Without the ability to transfer funds, the Disability Trust Fund will be forced to cut all benefits by 20% in 2016. That’s 20% from a paycheck that already is not enough to keep 1.6 million people out of poverty.

A harsh truth we must come to terms with is that one out of every three young workers new to the labor force will either die or need Disability Insurance before they turn 67.  Those odds get even worse for African American workers, who make up a disproportionate percentage of Disability Insurance beneficiaries.  An unexpected disability or illness can be devastating to an individual or family, but the Disability Insurance program supplies protection to soften the blow of an immediate loss of income. While the benefits are modest, averaging around $1100 a month, they still represent the main or only source of income for over 80% of beneficiaries.  Nearly one in five beneficiaries live in poverty, which translates to roughly 1.6 million people, or approximately the population of greater metropolitan Milwaukee, my home city.

Obviously, this critical program needs more funding, but my congressional colleagues across the aisle continue to stand in the way. The rule change proposed by House Republicans was slipped under the wire as a procedural fix. But let’s call it what it is: a brazen attack on our nation’s most vulnerable. These are people who paid their dues to Social Security while they were in the labor force who are now in need of the services they paid into.

Now is not the time to weaken the Disability Insurance program, but rather we should be strengthening it. One of the major lingering effects of the recession is the sharp increase in long-term unemployment. While this number is now on the decline for the overall population, disabled workers continue to struggle to find gainful employment. Cutting what meager benefits they have now would be a death sentence.

This Black History Month, instead of only reflecting on the African Americans of the past, we should also make sure we are taking care of the African Americans of today and tomorrow. Cutting benefits to the Disability Insurance program would disproportionately affect African Americans. I believe in a vision of government where we take care of those who have fallen on hard times due to disability. Black History Month serves as a good means to highlight these issues, but I will keep fighting for this vision all year-round, day-in and day-out, until every American receives the assistance they need to live a prosperous life.

 



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