Archive for February, 2009
« Previous EntriesBudget Blueprint and Seniors
Thursday, February 26th, 2009President Obama’s Budget is now available online. There was a good bit of early discussion this morning based on background briefings provided by the White House last night. ABC had an early summary of the Medicare related provisions included in the HHS portion of the budget. The 10 year savings (detailed in Summary Table S-6) are: $8.1 billion [...]
Boomer Bust? Securing Retirement in a Volatile Economy
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009That was the topic of today’s Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, chaired by Senator Herb Kohl. Testimony ran the gamut from pensions to policies encouraging boomers to work longer. The panel, including our own Barbara Kennelly, offered a wide range of recommendations to improve financial security for a growing number of baby boomer retirees. While [...]
Obama Address and Economic Recovery
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009Watching the President tonight, I couldn’t help but think about the millions of Americans who were also watching and hoping to hear something, anything which will calm their fears about the economic crisis they are living each day. This is especially true for America’s seniors living on fixed incomes, who’ve seen their retirement savings evaporate, [...]
The “Entitlement Reform” Myth
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009Thanks to Marie Cocco for providing some much needed truth telling about the long-running anti-entitlement campaign launched by those who oppose the very idea of Social Security and Medicare and propelled by self-described “fiscal hawks” in Congress. She says: “Now that so many of us have been whipsawed financially, it is time to wipe the [...]
Healthcare Reform = Entitlement Reform
Monday, February 23rd, 2009National Committee President/CEO, Barbara Kennelly, participated in today’s Financial Responsibility Summit and was a member of the Social Security group. Here is her reaction to today’s event: “We support President Obama’s promise to return fiscal responsibility to our federal budget and we also agree that our nation’s biggest long-term fiscal challenge is health care [...]
Slashing Social Security and Medicare Won’t Balance the Federal Budget
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009Anti-entitlement groups are spending millions of dollars waging a public relations and lobbying campaign to convince Congress that cutting Social Security and Medicare will somehow undo the damage of eight years of failed economic policies. Today, leading economic and policy experts briefed a standing room only crowd of Congressional staff on the myth behind the so-called [...]
Stimulus Compromise, Seniors, and Social Security
Thursday, February 12th, 2009At $789 billion, the Economic Recovery compromise bill is actually less expensive than either the House or Senate’s original versions; however, funding for the Social Security Administration and stimulus for seniors survived the trimming. The Associated Press has a summary of key details. Following are some highlights affecting America’s seniors: One-time payments to seniors, disabled [...]
What Senate Stimulus Means for Seniors
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Social Security News provides a nice summary of the SSA provisions in the Senate’s economic recovery plan. “Senate compromise on the Obama economic stimulus package (see lines 461-464) does not change the amount going to the Social Security Administration from the bill that was reported to the Senate floor. The amount is still $893 million [...]
Seniors and Stimulus…Redux
Friday, February 6th, 2009OK…so “tweak” (from our last post) is clearly not even close to the right word to describe what’s happening in the Senate on the economic recovery plan. In truth, conservatives are now hoping to eviscerate this plan while a small group of moderates are searching for a reported $80-$100 billion to cut out of it. [...]
Stimulus and Seniors
Thursday, February 5th, 2009The Senate got it right on stimulus. The Senate stimulus plan would provide a one-time $300 payment to Social Security recipients, including disabled and older veterans and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries.
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