Comments on: No COLA Adjustment for Social Security in 2010

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:02:48 +0000

is there going to be a $250 stimulus check in 2010 for Social Security Recipients

By: Ronalod

Ronalod — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:37:31 +0000

Yup, this idiot Obama has set the bar so low, that nobody can live under it unless you are in Congress where you vote in your own salary. Who gave them the right to do this????
Republicans are for “Big Business” and got us into this, now
the Democrats [who say they are for the little man] have:
1. Made it manditory [originally voluntary]
2. Made SS taxable [it wasn't taxable originally]
3. Put it in General Fund [where it is accessible to the
rest of the Government]
4. Now they take away the COLA…….
Let’s get rid of both parties and start over.
This Government is no longer “Of the People and For the
People”. Obama wants to be a dictator and Bush set it up by
enacting the “Patriot Act” which gives him carte-blanc to do as he pleases. On election day kick all the encumbants
[those with seats already in Govt't] out and vote in a whole new Congress. And by all means get rid of Obama!!!!!

By: Charles S O'rourke, III

Charles S O'rourke, III — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:32:24 +0000

Protecting Our Social Security Benefit: A Call to Action

Active concerned/senior citizens expect their elected/governmental officials (national, state and local) to protect our Social Security (and Medicare benefits).
Seniors are concerned that in 2010 our Social Security was not increased for the first time in thirty-five years. Furthermore, there are no Social Security increases (cost of living/COLA) projected for the next two years! These projections currently use the CPI-W adjustment index method (Consumer Price Index that, in fact, tracks the spending habits of younger workers/consumers… not seniors).
In contrast, our basic living costs/expenses have been increasing… sometimes substantially (e.g. basic necessities like food, energy/utilities, medical/healthcare costs)… so that the current projection method (CPI-W) is obviously not working in the best interests of our senior/elderly citizens.
We call upon… expect… our government to better protect our benefits:
• Promote policies/laws that minimize inflation (especially for basic necessities). This benefits the entire general population… especially those on a fixed income.
• Replace the CPI-W index with a more equitable/realistic indexing method like the CPI-E (tracks the spending habits of senior/elderly consumers over 62 years of age).
In short, minimizing inflation and using the proper index would protect our Social Security benefit.
———-
The real inflation being experienced by the consumer, at least in this part of the country, is actually substantially above zero (0) percent: food (10%); energy/utilities electricity(10%), water/sewer (25%), telephone/land line (7%), gas/motor fuel (70% from approx. $1.60/gal to $2.70); and medical/healthcare: Medicare Part B/deducts from S.S. check (15% started Jan 2010 for new).

Note: In 1975 Congress had the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) establish the current COLA adjustment method (CPI-W) to better protect our Social Security benefit (i.e. standard of living). In 1987 Congress further directed that the BLS begin calculating a new index (CPI-E) that would better track/maintain a senior/elderly standard of living (i.e. the purpose of the COLA to begin with). Now is the time for us to revisit this question… to align the intent with actual/today’s reality…

By: e. justice

e. justice — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:39:08 +0000

i worked 18 years in coal mines we used to march for clean airto breath underground its disgusting the most vunerble are having to suffer over wall streets greed we should take buses to washington no news no con. or senater is saying a word to help but gov.workers are getting a 5.8 percent raise its time to take back our country.

By: Lisa Smith

Lisa Smith — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:22:34 +0000

screw all you effers that say there was no inflation in 2009. unbelievable. everything is still priced the same but the packaging has gotten smaller, yarnell ice, cream, charmin tissue, i could go on for days with it. gas is ridiculous, television (cable) has gone up again, but people “like us” have no business having cable in the first place, do we?, or any other so called luxury in life. our teeth fall out, our eyes go bad and we get no help with that either. doesn’t matter if we’re toothless and blind does it? some of us couldn’t get a job if we wanted one because we’re not given enough money to be one of the beautiful people. i am sick to death of being robbed, when i saw my social security check with that ridiculous explanation about “no inflation” i sat there and cried. how do we ever get ahead? I had a wreck that almost killed me, and i have had cancer as well, and i feel downright disposable right now. i dread another year of living on the same amount that barely got me through 2009. screw them all…

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:05:12 +0000

This is an outrage It is ridicuolous that the president and congress are not looking out for people who have served there time or who can not work. Have they seen what a lb of hamburger costs probably not because they are too busy feasting on their filet minion while we are trying to figure out how 1 lb of hamburger will feed 4 people. It reminds me of medival times we are treated like the peasants and the ones who make all the money are treated like kings well I am tired of eating there crumbs. I believe the government will not be happy till all old and disabled people are living on the street is this there way of weeding us out….are they being like the eskimos if you are old and can not work they send you off on the ice out to sea to die. The government is treating us like we are not worth anything because we do not or can not work. I am still waiting for this “change” maybe the president meant that is all we will have left in our pockets…..

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:26:01 +0000

OMG, how many times do I have to hear Obama blamed for trying to at least do something ,other then sit on his backside, about the problems he inherited. Hindsight is 20-20 and only the future will tell is he has made the correct decisions or not.

Some began degrading him his first month in office. I reserved my opinion until I see the net result. Well he has not spent his first month or year in office adjusting his office chair so it fits his butt right. Be them right or wrong, he has made decisions and taken action.

I am on SSD and DAC and have been for the last 20 years. My COLA’s have not kept pace with the minimum wage. I get less now then the last year I worked, 20 years ago, even with 20 years of COLA’s. How do you blame Obama for, lets see..how many COLA’s before he had any say in the matter? I guess he makes for an easy big name figure head to blame of all of lifes woes.

I was counting on some increase this year to bring my finances out of the red. Another one time payment would help, but I would just like to know one way or the other so I can work my long term budget.

The bottom line: We are in unusual times. Quit arguing and fighting and playing politics. Make a decision then follow through with it.

Margaret Lashley says:
…People should not be afraid of their government; their government should be afraid of them.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was going to say that but you already did.
I will add:
Famous Thomas Jefferson Quote
“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure.”
from quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Thomas.Jefferson.Quote.EFEC

By: This past week’s PF reading » JoeTaxpayer

This past week’s PF reading » JoeTaxpayer — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:13:13 +0000

[...] discovered My Retirement Blog’s post “No COLA Adjustment for Social Security in 2010.” I think this forecast is pretty accurate and will hurt those who won’t see their [...]

By: Wendy B. Pierce

Wendy B. Pierce — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:09:15 +0000

The formula was designed to calculate the annual Cola but we can always stand up for ourselves and ask for a raise. This is how the rich get richer and congressman keep their pockets overflowing with money. They complain like us but better and more effectively. We need to all write to the congressman and request justice. We need to research where our letters will be most read and considered. I live on SSI and only make $673.00 a month. We need to take our dissatisfaction and turn it into proactive movement for a change in the way the COLA is formulated. Start typing your letters my friends.

By: Margaret Lashley

Margaret Lashley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:58:54 +0000

I wish I got $1200.00 or $1100.00, I get $648.00 -Medicare Part B. I too am mad, but I know who to blame. Inflation is still here, everyone complains about the prices so it would follow something else is going on. I will tell you what it is. The largest COLA ever was given for 2009, and they tied this to it to make the next person in office look bad. Bush and his cronies are plainly insane and greedy, so in their mind they felt this would look worse then all he & they did. Don’t ever forget that the Congress that served with him is guilty, too. So, the Republicans will grab us by the throat again in the next election, because people will fall for this and other things in the works. What I worry about is their next time around they will deconstruct Social Security. Just think if Bush had gotten his way and it had been invested in private accounts in all those banks and corporations that failed, causing the stockmarket to crash where the rest of the money was invested. It use to be that Democrats were for the poor and working class, and Republicans were for the rich and big business, but some Democrats have slid sideways. The best thing to do is not elect them to Congress again! When only 30% of the people in this country vote, there can never be a change for the better. There are a lot more of us than them, but the rich and big business run the show because they bribe and they VOTE! Voter turn out was much larger this last election than usual, so all the cheating and dirty tricks of the last 2 elections could not overcome the tide of voters. That is where the power is. People should not be afraid of their government; their government should be afraid of them.