More Evidence that Social Security is a Lifeline – Especially During Tough Times
While most in the media would rather focus their limited attentions on Rick Perry?s Ponzi claims and parrot statistics provided by billion dollar campaigns designed to convince us that our nation can?t afford vital safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare, every once in awhile someone just reports the facts. Here is one of those instances. Suzy Khimm at Wonkblog uses 5 graphs from the latest (and most depressing in memory) Census report on poverty. Please take the time to read her entire post. But here are some key points usually just glossed over in Washington?s race to cut deficits:
?Poverty for Americans age 18 to 64 is at a record high: at 13.7 percent. It?s highest poverty rate for this age group that the Census has on record since 1959. (The next highest rates for this group happened in 2009, then 1983.) By contrast, the poverty rate for seniors is at a record low: in 2009, it was at 8.9 percent, and it?s remained essentially flat since then. Why? It seems that Social Security has provided a safety net that?s weathered the recession: without this income, the poverty rate for Americans over 65 would have risen by 13.8 million, the Census says.And as bad as things look for other age groups, the safety net has also prevented even more younger Americans from falling into poverty: without unemployment insurance benefits, the poverty rate for other adults would have risen by 2.3 million and children by 900,000.?
So when someone tells you ?we just can?t afford America?s safety net programs? you must then ask them ??Can this nation afford to have another 17 million Americans in poverty??It’s incredible that now Congress? Super Committee and the White House both appear willing to support cuts to many of these programs which have served us so well.No surprise here, but the health care industry would rather raise the Medicare eligibility age, forcing 5 million seniors into the private market where they can pay more for less. They figure pushing costs to seniors is a better option that facing other reforms that might actually hurt their bottom line.
?There?s a pretty simple explanation for why hospitals and some insurers would favor raising the eligibility age: Hospitals receive higher payments from private insurance than they do from Medicare. The payments that hospitals receive from private insurers are 28 percent above the break-even point for providing treatment, according to a recent report from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Medicare pays only 91 percent of what it costs a hospital to provide care.Heath insurers, too, could stand to benefit if 5 million seniors in that age bracket move into the private market.?
So while the Super Committee meets behind closed doors and the White House prepares it?s deficit cutting proposal for release next week, you have to wonder. Did they read this Census Report?
Social Security & Medicare Didn’t Cause our Budget Mess
The Congressional Super Committee held it’s first hearing today. CBO Director Doug Elmendorf testified about the budget deficit and warned the U.S. won?t be able to keep up its spending programs and policies while keeping current tax policies in place. As expected, fiscal hawks continued to try and blame our fiscal failure on programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security today while sticking to their pledge to ignore the revenue side of any deficit reduction equation.It’s going to be a long few months.Here’s today’s reaction from our President/CEO, Max Richtman:
?It?s clear, after listening to statements made by many members of the Deficit Super Committee today, that cutting Medicare, Medicaid and even Social Security, to cut the deficit remains their primary goal. Repeated statements that these programs are the primary drivers of our current debt, contrary to the facts, do a disservice to the process and impede finding real solutions to the real problems. Conflating current debt and future obligations is a political strategy designed to target these programs to pay the price for years of failed fiscal policies and tax cuts for the wealthy. America?s workers, especially the baby boomers, built up a $2.6 trillion dollar Social Security trust fund to pay for their future retirement. In fact, the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office show that Social Security can pay full benefits through the year 2038 and slightly more than 80 percent of scheduled benefits in subsequent years. The challenges facing Medicare are more immediate. Solutions are needed to bring down the high cost of healthcare system-wide, however, benefit cuts for seniors is not a remedy. Lumping Social Security and Medicare together, while ignoring the true drivers of our current debt, puts politics over policy and turns this Deficit Reduction Committee into nothing more than an entitlement chop-shop. That is not what the American people expect or will accept in the name of deficit reduction.? Max Richtman, President/CEO
Payroll Tax Cuts Threaten Social Security’s Promise
Here is our reaction to President Obama’s jobs address:
“Putting Americans back to work is critical to our economic recovery. It’s unfortunate that for most of this year Washington’s attention has been diverted to deficit reduction rather than finding ways to stimulate our still flagging economy, which will itself reduce the deficit. We applaud President Obama for refocusing our national attention to where it should be–economic recovery–while offering relief that many Americans desperately need. We agree wholeheartedly with the President, the time to act is now and we hope Congress will move quickly to make job creation priority #1. Putting Americans back to work is also critical to keeping Social Security and Medicare strong. However, this proposal to extend and expand the payroll tax cut threatens Social Security’s independence by forcing the program to compete for limited federal dollars from general revenues, and by breaking the link between contributions and benefits. As we predicted back in December, there’s no such thing as a temporary tax cut. Just months after being reassured that diverting contributions from Social Security would last for just one year, Congress is now being asked to extend and even increase this diversion of payroll taxes for another year. Doubling-down by also cutting employer contributions greatly worsens the situation, and makes it even hard to restore the Social Security system to self-financing. If this extension passes, there is no guarantee that Congress won’t be asked to extend it yet again, for a 3rd or even a 4th year or longer, and expand it even more, making it a de facto permanent part of the tax code. This is death by a thousand cuts. Social Security is paid for, earned by and promised to American workers. We call on the President and the Congress to reaffirm the fact that Social Security has been, is, and will continue to be, a self-financed insurance program; and that this temporary payroll tax cut does not constitute a precedent that would undermine this principle.” Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
Debt Super Committee Begins Work
The twelve members of Congress? so-called ?Super Committee? held their first public meeting today. It was largely a pro-forma type event with opening statements all around and the approval of the committee?s rules.The Committee will meet again next week to hear from the Congressional Budget Office and could also schedule meetings with the Chairs of two other deficit panels, Bowles/Simpson and Rivlin/Domenici to hear about their proposals. The committee co-chairmen also said they may also go behind closed doors on ?important issues?. It?s hard to imagine what wouldn?t qualify as an ?important? issue given the enormity of the panel?s mission. The National Journal reports:
Not all of the meetings and discussions of the 12-member super committee on deficit reduction will be conducted in public, the two leaders said on Thursday, despite calls from colleagues that the panel?s work all be done in open session.Co-chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., echoing fellow co-chair Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said, ?We looked at how House and Senate committees operate, and we worked together to make sure this committee met publicly, but also had the ability to meet just among members to discuss important issues.?The committee?s official deadline to report out recommendations for deficit reduction is Nov. 23, but Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said realistically the panel needs to complete its work by the end of October in order to have a final product by Thanksgiving.As the meeting was getting under way, more than a dozen protesters interrupted with chants of ?What do we want? Jobs! When do we need ?em? NOW!? The chants caused Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., to stop speaking, and the meeting paused briefly as staff struggled to block out the noise.
A common theme throughout today?s testimony was also ?we don?t have to start from scratch? with some urging their ?Super Committee? colleagues to pick up where other deficit reduction groups left off. Democrat Chris Van Holen even suggested reports provided by the Fiscal Commission and fiscal hawks Alice Rivlin and Pete Domenici should be a ?framework? because they provided ?a balanced approach?. Given that Bowles/Simpson proposed savings through 2/3 budget cuts and 1/3 revenue increases, that strikes us as far from the type of ?balance? expected by most Americans. Both reports also included major changes to Social Security with Rivlin/Domenici including Medicare premium and cost sharing changes that would be devastating for seniors. Balanced, really?Time will tell what Washington?s idea of shared sacrifice really means. Meanwhile, President Obama will make a desperately needed pivot to the issue of job creation in an address to the Joint Session of Congress tonight at 7:00pm.
Esther Says What You’ve Been Thinking – in New NCPSSM Social Security Video
Esther Lenett is a National Committee member who lives in Maryland. She’s 93 years old and depends on Social Security. She’s one of those wonderful people who you can count on to tell it like it is. We’re so glad she agreed to talk to us about Social Security, the new Debt Committee and Washington’s rush to play “let’s make a deal” with the future of millions of American workers.We all know people just like Esther who have an important story to tell…if only, Washington will listen.Take a minute, watch Esther’s video and share it with your friends.
More Evidence that Social Security is a Lifeline – Especially During Tough Times
While most in the media would rather focus their limited attentions on Rick Perry?s Ponzi claims and parrot statistics provided by billion dollar campaigns designed to convince us that our nation can?t afford vital safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare, every once in awhile someone just reports the facts. Here is one of those instances. Suzy Khimm at Wonkblog uses 5 graphs from the latest (and most depressing in memory) Census report on poverty. Please take the time to read her entire post. But here are some key points usually just glossed over in Washington?s race to cut deficits:
?Poverty for Americans age 18 to 64 is at a record high: at 13.7 percent. It?s highest poverty rate for this age group that the Census has on record since 1959. (The next highest rates for this group happened in 2009, then 1983.) By contrast, the poverty rate for seniors is at a record low: in 2009, it was at 8.9 percent, and it?s remained essentially flat since then. Why? It seems that Social Security has provided a safety net that?s weathered the recession: without this income, the poverty rate for Americans over 65 would have risen by 13.8 million, the Census says.And as bad as things look for other age groups, the safety net has also prevented even more younger Americans from falling into poverty: without unemployment insurance benefits, the poverty rate for other adults would have risen by 2.3 million and children by 900,000.?
So when someone tells you ?we just can?t afford America?s safety net programs? you must then ask them ??Can this nation afford to have another 17 million Americans in poverty??It’s incredible that now Congress? Super Committee and the White House both appear willing to support cuts to many of these programs which have served us so well.No surprise here, but the health care industry would rather raise the Medicare eligibility age, forcing 5 million seniors into the private market where they can pay more for less. They figure pushing costs to seniors is a better option that facing other reforms that might actually hurt their bottom line.
?There?s a pretty simple explanation for why hospitals and some insurers would favor raising the eligibility age: Hospitals receive higher payments from private insurance than they do from Medicare. The payments that hospitals receive from private insurers are 28 percent above the break-even point for providing treatment, according to a recent report from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Medicare pays only 91 percent of what it costs a hospital to provide care.Heath insurers, too, could stand to benefit if 5 million seniors in that age bracket move into the private market.?
So while the Super Committee meets behind closed doors and the White House prepares it?s deficit cutting proposal for release next week, you have to wonder. Did they read this Census Report?
Social Security & Medicare Didn’t Cause our Budget Mess
The Congressional Super Committee held it’s first hearing today. CBO Director Doug Elmendorf testified about the budget deficit and warned the U.S. won?t be able to keep up its spending programs and policies while keeping current tax policies in place. As expected, fiscal hawks continued to try and blame our fiscal failure on programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security today while sticking to their pledge to ignore the revenue side of any deficit reduction equation.It’s going to be a long few months.Here’s today’s reaction from our President/CEO, Max Richtman:
?It?s clear, after listening to statements made by many members of the Deficit Super Committee today, that cutting Medicare, Medicaid and even Social Security, to cut the deficit remains their primary goal. Repeated statements that these programs are the primary drivers of our current debt, contrary to the facts, do a disservice to the process and impede finding real solutions to the real problems. Conflating current debt and future obligations is a political strategy designed to target these programs to pay the price for years of failed fiscal policies and tax cuts for the wealthy. America?s workers, especially the baby boomers, built up a $2.6 trillion dollar Social Security trust fund to pay for their future retirement. In fact, the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office show that Social Security can pay full benefits through the year 2038 and slightly more than 80 percent of scheduled benefits in subsequent years. The challenges facing Medicare are more immediate. Solutions are needed to bring down the high cost of healthcare system-wide, however, benefit cuts for seniors is not a remedy. Lumping Social Security and Medicare together, while ignoring the true drivers of our current debt, puts politics over policy and turns this Deficit Reduction Committee into nothing more than an entitlement chop-shop. That is not what the American people expect or will accept in the name of deficit reduction.? Max Richtman, President/CEO
Payroll Tax Cuts Threaten Social Security’s Promise
Here is our reaction to President Obama’s jobs address:
“Putting Americans back to work is critical to our economic recovery. It’s unfortunate that for most of this year Washington’s attention has been diverted to deficit reduction rather than finding ways to stimulate our still flagging economy, which will itself reduce the deficit. We applaud President Obama for refocusing our national attention to where it should be–economic recovery–while offering relief that many Americans desperately need. We agree wholeheartedly with the President, the time to act is now and we hope Congress will move quickly to make job creation priority #1. Putting Americans back to work is also critical to keeping Social Security and Medicare strong. However, this proposal to extend and expand the payroll tax cut threatens Social Security’s independence by forcing the program to compete for limited federal dollars from general revenues, and by breaking the link between contributions and benefits. As we predicted back in December, there’s no such thing as a temporary tax cut. Just months after being reassured that diverting contributions from Social Security would last for just one year, Congress is now being asked to extend and even increase this diversion of payroll taxes for another year. Doubling-down by also cutting employer contributions greatly worsens the situation, and makes it even hard to restore the Social Security system to self-financing. If this extension passes, there is no guarantee that Congress won’t be asked to extend it yet again, for a 3rd or even a 4th year or longer, and expand it even more, making it a de facto permanent part of the tax code. This is death by a thousand cuts. Social Security is paid for, earned by and promised to American workers. We call on the President and the Congress to reaffirm the fact that Social Security has been, is, and will continue to be, a self-financed insurance program; and that this temporary payroll tax cut does not constitute a precedent that would undermine this principle.” Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
Debt Super Committee Begins Work
The twelve members of Congress? so-called ?Super Committee? held their first public meeting today. It was largely a pro-forma type event with opening statements all around and the approval of the committee?s rules.The Committee will meet again next week to hear from the Congressional Budget Office and could also schedule meetings with the Chairs of two other deficit panels, Bowles/Simpson and Rivlin/Domenici to hear about their proposals. The committee co-chairmen also said they may also go behind closed doors on ?important issues?. It?s hard to imagine what wouldn?t qualify as an ?important? issue given the enormity of the panel?s mission. The National Journal reports:
Not all of the meetings and discussions of the 12-member super committee on deficit reduction will be conducted in public, the two leaders said on Thursday, despite calls from colleagues that the panel?s work all be done in open session.Co-chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., echoing fellow co-chair Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said, ?We looked at how House and Senate committees operate, and we worked together to make sure this committee met publicly, but also had the ability to meet just among members to discuss important issues.?The committee?s official deadline to report out recommendations for deficit reduction is Nov. 23, but Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said realistically the panel needs to complete its work by the end of October in order to have a final product by Thanksgiving.As the meeting was getting under way, more than a dozen protesters interrupted with chants of ?What do we want? Jobs! When do we need ?em? NOW!? The chants caused Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., to stop speaking, and the meeting paused briefly as staff struggled to block out the noise.
A common theme throughout today?s testimony was also ?we don?t have to start from scratch? with some urging their ?Super Committee? colleagues to pick up where other deficit reduction groups left off. Democrat Chris Van Holen even suggested reports provided by the Fiscal Commission and fiscal hawks Alice Rivlin and Pete Domenici should be a ?framework? because they provided ?a balanced approach?. Given that Bowles/Simpson proposed savings through 2/3 budget cuts and 1/3 revenue increases, that strikes us as far from the type of ?balance? expected by most Americans. Both reports also included major changes to Social Security with Rivlin/Domenici including Medicare premium and cost sharing changes that would be devastating for seniors. Balanced, really?Time will tell what Washington?s idea of shared sacrifice really means. Meanwhile, President Obama will make a desperately needed pivot to the issue of job creation in an address to the Joint Session of Congress tonight at 7:00pm.
Esther Says What You’ve Been Thinking – in New NCPSSM Social Security Video
Esther Lenett is a National Committee member who lives in Maryland. She’s 93 years old and depends on Social Security. She’s one of those wonderful people who you can count on to tell it like it is. We’re so glad she agreed to talk to us about Social Security, the new Debt Committee and Washington’s rush to play “let’s make a deal” with the future of millions of American workers.We all know people just like Esther who have an important story to tell…if only, Washington will listen.Take a minute, watch Esther’s video and share it with your friends.