$13.00

[madamesilverspurs]

Even with that 2013 cost of living adjustment my Social Security check is still under $800. It's so inadequate that I must, out of simple necessity, depend on several government programs in order to get by. There is no luxury, I do not live in palacial splendor, nor do I dine on caviar or shop at Tiffany's. My budget allows for one new pair of shoes per year, and those shoes are worn every day; hot glue usually holds them together the last couple of months until I can replace them. Yet, Boehner and McConnell seem to think that reducing my benefits will somehow fix the budget. If there's logic in that I wish someone would point it out, because from where I sit it just looks cruel.


-

[MindandSoul]

1. I feel your pain, and I totally agree that EVERY member of the government

leadership and their family should have to "walk in those shoes" for at least a year.

That would help the deficit, if not immediately, at least in the future!

[southernyankeebelle]

32. What ticks me off is Obama gave congress a raise for doing nothing. That really

makes me upset. Am about the same in your boat if I lived on my own.

[larkrake]

77. Give me a break, Obama cant give raises. The House holds the purse strings

and gives themselves a raise. It is not deserved, I agree.
People blame the Pres for everything

[southernyankeebelle]

84. well I thought the same thing. But that said he approved it. So don't shoot the messenger please.

[awoke_in_2003]

80. That wasn't Obama...

Congressional raises are automatic, unless congress votes not to let the raise happen. Nice gig, huh?

[southernyankeebelle]

83. They stopped it for a couple of years now because of the economy. I read it somewhere or

heard it just recently. I read that Obama approved it. I know it used to be automatically but that is insane for sure. Where can you get a raise for doing nothing like congress does and gets away with it.. Oh right the bankers and corporation CEOs who seem to screw the little guy.

[awoke_in_2003]

92. Oh, they are doing stuff...

but not for us. They represent Wall Street.

[southernyankeebelle]

93. Yes, we all should have know we'd get screwed anyway. All those mother f**kers on

both sides haven't done anything for us. I think I will give up on politics all together. What is the use when you have republicans in the states not helping the working people in this country and at the national level they are helping the rich and wall street. It makes me cry. I thought given Obama the 51% of the popular vote and electorial vote Obama wouldn't bend.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. It is cruel and savage. I'm so sorry.

I'm so disappointed with the U.S. Last night I watched Bowling for Columbine, in which Michael Moore compared the U.S. with Canada, a country which in many ways is not *that* different, and yet it is. People there feel a sense of comfort knowing they won't have to go through the horrors this country's government-by-corporation is doing to its people.

[indepat]

3. Unfathomably cruel, but not surprising: Republicans have lost all semblance of acting in

good faith to fulfill their oaths of office. 'pukes, in mass, are figuratively pissing on the constitutional doctrine to promote the general welfare with outrageous flair and panache.

edited to add good

[fleur-de-lisa]

4. I'm so very sorry that our country has done this to you . . .

You deserve better.

[roguevalley]

5. I hear you, madamesilverspurs. I work two part time jobs to make ends

meet. I hug you tight.

[abelenkpe]

6. It is cruel

It does nothing to improve the economy of today or in the future to take any amount of money away from those that spend every cent of it. You want to improve SS? Raise the cap don't cut benefits. You want to save money and improve Medicare? Lower the eligibility age don't raise it. Cutting social programs won't improve the economy or help people but it will appease wall street. Who runs this country? Multinational banks or our elected officials. Sometimes I forget

[leftstreet]

7. DURec

[tecelote]

8. How can Americans compromise those that have worked their whole lives?

These people did their best. They paid in to a system they trusted. The USA.

They deserve to live in dignity, not poverty.

[rox63]

9. Perhaps Congress should have their pay cut if they don't find a way to keep SS intact

A friend started this petition at whitehouse.gov - Take a look and consider signing.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/inform-congress-they-must-earn-their-pay-because-we-pay-their-salaries-and-its-time-they-remembered/jY04Fxbz

[Octafish]

81. Obama authorized a Congressional pay raise just the other day.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/obama-pay-raise-congress_n_2377714.html

[ErikJ]

10. Live very comfortably in Ecuador for $800 a month.

For Affordable Retirement, Think Abroad
Study: Americans can live well in other countries

----AARP

Q. How much cheaper can it be to retire in a foreign country — and which countries are the most budget-friendly?

A. According to a recent study by International Living, Americans could retire 10 years earlier — and enjoy a higher standard of living — by moving beyond our country’s borders.

To where? In a comparison of 19 foreign countries, Ecuador is the overall winner, with the lowest cost of living and real estate, reports the 2012 Global Retirement Index. The South American country places second (after Panama) in “special benefits” programs for retirees. Panama offers the pensionado, which provides foreigners with 30 percent discounts on public transportation within the country; tickets for cultural and sporting events, including movies; and 25 percent off restaurant bills. And in Ecuador, folks older than 65 pay lower income tax and get free domestic landline phone service.

udget-watching couple could live well on $800 a month in Ecuador and be pressed to spend more than $1,500 monthly. Other leading overall choices include Panama, Mexico, Malaysia, Colombia and New Zealand.
Of course, there are barriers such as language, cultural acclimation and distance from family. If you’re considering a move abroad, English-speaking countries such as Belize, Ireland and New Zealand may top your short list. But you can get by in your native tongue in parts of Panama, Ecuador and Mexico, says International Living.

http://www.aarp.org/money/budgeting-saving/info-04-2012/affordable-retirement-abroad-ask-sid.html

[JimDandy]

14. We shouldn't have to move

from a country that WE built up with OUR energy, time and money when we had young bodies, but can't afford to live in when those bodies get old.

[Hekate]

27. Damn right

[duffyduff]

15. People can't even afford to move

This kind of "suggestion" really drives me up the wall.

[ErikJ]

26. Some may be able to though

I've read dozens of stories of people of all ages moving to Low cost of living countries in my International Living magazine. Everybody's story and situation is different. One lady 40 years old was a scuba instructor for years but decided to settle down on Lake Atitaln in Guatemala on $250 a month. She's now a freelance writer and says she loves it.

[Posteritatis]

33. Because all you need to do to immigrate is decide to, right?

Oy.

[ErikJ]

35. That's what I've decided to do.

mainly because I'm very POed about America's outrageously bad health care system. I could conceivably lose everything I've worked for if I got sick which is unique in the world. I have a nest egg to travel and explore places to move to. Hopefully I'll be moved in 3 or 4 years.

[Posteritatis]

40. Congratulations, you're in a small minority well-off enough to do that. (nt)

[KansDem]

61. I'm thinking about retiring to Mexico

I turn 60 next month and have a very modest retirement "package" available to me that might make it impossible to retire in the USA. Lately, I've been thinking above moving south for my "golden years."

I was thinking about Costa Rica but now am looking at places about a couple hours south of the US/Mexico border. I have a couple more years to think about it.

May I ask the title of your "international living" magazine?

[SummerSnow]

75. A couple eho are friends of mine...

moved to Costa Rica 2 years ago. They are living off their SS.They love it. They have a house on the beach.They get up in the morning and walk to the beach for breakfast with a few of their neighbors. They're living off of $1600 a month.They said it's the best move they ever made.

[KansDem]

76. Thanks!

I have a couple more years to think about it. I'll be looking at all options, including Costa Rica!

[ErikJ]

79. You said it.

Its "International Living" magazine. Its the only magazine subscription I read cover to cover every month. ANd most I read twice! Its about $50 a year but worth it for me.
There are several places in Mexico where a lot of other US expats live. San Miguel de Allende and Lake Chappala just south of Guadalajara are the 2 biggest. Lots live in Puerto Vajara region too. But then some expats dont like living in expat communities. They prefer the Mexican culture more.

In Costa Rica, the area just west of San Jose in the mountains where it's cooler is the most preferred expat area. Or the NW coast area of CR also if you love the ocean and surfing. Its drier there as well so less humidity.

Nicaragua is also great now. Its the cheapest of the Central American countries by far. Granada and the Southwest coast are expat hotspots.

Belize is nice and easy because they use the dollar and english. They have fantastic scuba diving as well plus great rainforest/wildlife preserves and Mayan ruins close by.

In Ecuador the preferred expat area is Cuenca or Quito where you dont need an air conditioner or heater, and they use the US dollar too making their currency pretty stable.
Columbia is the newest hot spot now. They have become very stable in the last 15 years. Lots of international companies are now locating there which has stabilized the country. Medillin and Bogata are the best there. The weather is like spring every day there. Surprisingly modern infrastructure.

Panama is also pretty hot now too. Then again I have heard lots of great things about Thailand, Malaysia and now even Cambodia! And in Europe I.ve heard great things about Croatia! and of course France. Lots of expats living all over Europe. I want to explore South Africa as well which I've heard is great especially Cape Town area. I've always dreamed of exploring Africa so it would make a great base.
Uruguay South America also sounds great. Very stable with a democratic socialist government. The President lives on his farm and donates 90% of his salary! The Northeast coast of Brazil is also interesting. Its the new hot spot in Brazil. Endless long sandy beaches on the Caribbean.
.
I have a British/US ex-pat friend who lives in Thailand for 4 years and he REALLY loves it there. He told me he would never move back to the US or the UK.

[rhett o rick]

89. He missed your point. He assumes those countries will welcome us with open arms. Canada wont. nm

[Warren Stupidity]

72. Do you actually think this is an appropriate solution to the underfunding of social security?

[Alameda]

86. Thanks, this is good to know

.....but...after paying into SS for 56 years it's damn rude to need to relocate to another country to have a decent living condition. I thank G-d every day for Social Security. I had a 401K ha ha ha.....lucky I didn't actually loose money as I only put in the minimum needed to get my employer to put something in. I got out just what I put in, but if you actually look at it, I did loose quite a bit. The 401K thing is a scam, we are forced to invest in companies we don't even know about, or maybe, don't even want to support.

It used to be you invested in a company because you liked what they produced and wanted to help them get ahead. Not now.

[ErikJ]

91. But we are lucky if you think about it in a different way.

We have the world currency which is about the most stable currency in the world and while our SS may be too little for retiring here you can almost live like a king on your SS in much of the rest of the world. Not Europe or Japan or Hong Kong though.

We also use English which is the second language of the world. Wherever you go lots of people know a little. And English teaching is in high demand too in most countries.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. I'll be getting a whopping $21 more

The thing that's so offensive to me is that I haven't heard a peep from either side about raising or eliminating the income cap for what is taxed for Social Security. It used to be that 90% of all wages were SS taxed and everything was groovy, but the growing income disparity has hit Social Security hard. Since a disproportionate of income is going to the top 2% of earners, only 83% of wages are being taxed. There are 3 possible fixes.

One is to raise the cap from the current $113K (for 2013) to about $185K. For someone who $185K, that's an extra $4500 in tax - not exactly catastrophic. However, just raising the cap doesn't address the fact that most of the people who have done better in the last few decades are those in the top 2%, while everyone elses wages have been stagnant or slipping backwards.

The second possibility is to eliminate the cap and tax all wages. That's what we do with Medicare.

The third scenario is a compromise. Establish an untaxed "window" of income from $113K to $250K. Every year the lower limit is raised until the window is closed and all income is subject to Social Security tax.

Obviously doing any of these is better than doing nothing and the decision about benefit levels would have to be made as well. But to have benefit cuts on the table without discussing any increase in revenue makes no sense. Why is it so hard for us to say Social Security is an insurance program paid for by workers that pays benefits to senior citizens, the disabled, widows and their children? Like all insurance, an individual may or may not receive as much benefits (money) as they contributed. Do we gripe if we never get a benefit from our auto insurance? No, because it means we haven't had a wreck or gotten our car stolen. The only way you "win" with life insurance is to die early.

The fact that Social Security would pay benefits to your survivors is something that has money value. The fact that you could get benefits if you became disabled has money value. The fact that you will receive monthly benefits from retirement age until you die has money value. I guess the way you "win" (get a lot more than you put in) with Social Security is to be a widow with a bunch of kids, but do you really WANT to be a widow with a bunch of kids? Or are you a Social Security "winner" if your like my cousin's daughter that has cerebral palsy and is quadriplegic. She'll never be able to work. She'll only get benefits. Anyone want to trade places with her, or with my cousin & her husband who will have to care for her as long as they are physically able? Yeah, they're Social Security "winners". There is no guarantee that you will get what you put into Social Security and we should quit thinking that is part of the contract. It is an insurance program to keep our elderly, disabled, widows and their children from living in poverty. It's one of the costs of living in a civilized society. If you feel like you're getting a raw deal, move to some 3rd world hell hole where orphans beg on the streets.

[reteachinwi]

47. +1

[CountAllVotes]

56. +1,000

You've said it all in your post.

& recommend!!

[BobbyBoring]

12. living high on the hog are ya??

That's what they think. The good old cradle to grave "Entitlements". It makes me sick to think that a select few have looted our treasury, destroyed trillions in personal wealth of every day working Americans, but that's not enough for them.

If there is a hell, there has to be a special place for these pathetic pukes.

[man4allcats]

13. Well from where I sit it just looks and smells like stinking shit,

and I hope Boehner and McConnell both stepped in it and tracked it into their cars and houses before they realized it. - Just Another Social Security Recipient

[tecelote]

16. Somewhere out there is a twenty something deadbeat abusing the sytem...

Republicans hate this guy so much that they do not care about you.

They don't want this guy living off of their taxes. They work too hard for deadbeats like this to mooch off of the system.

[humbled_opinion]

17. It Is Unconscionable and...

what makes it worse some in our own party are supportive of this chained CPI measure. The very protections that you have paid for all of your life being stolen from you by the politicians.... They deemed their pay raises more important than figuering out how they could use that money to help people. What has happened to my country?

[RoverSuswade]

18. Add my cost-cutting measures (think living in poverty) to your list:

1) Toilet paper conservation.
I tear off one sheet at a time (this is not The Onion sarc)
2) Movies
I haven't been in a theatre since I saw Al Gore's movie back in 2006.
I still have some VCRs I bought at garage sales I haven't seen.
3) I use a space heater to heat my living room, an electric blanket to warm up the bed, and set the heat on 60 the rest of the house.
4) I eat alot of egg and toasted cheese sandwiches.
5) Very frugal with Christmas & birthday gifts (no XBoxes or I-phones)
6) No giving to charities unless I know where the money is going.
7) I take my prescriptions every other day instead of every day as prescribed.
8) Absolutely NO vacations.
I could go on. I'm past retirement age but continue to work 40 hrs a week so I can pay my mortgage. I just couldn't make it otherwise.
USA! USA!

[zeemike]

28. I splurge on the TP....two sheets at a time.

And I do some better on the food but I have learned myself how to cook from scratch and that alone saves you money.
I have Pizza at leas once a week...and I make it myself from scratch, crust and all...and I get it just like I want it...and once you get the hang of it it is easy to do...and far better for you than those bought ones that are loaded with salt to hide the fact that the cheese and stuff is crap.
But I have no mortgage....and it is much easier for me.

[RoverSuswade]

45. After I pay off the mortgage

I will start using 2 sheets - LOL.
Thomas English Muffins make great pizza crusts.

[AnnieK401]

71. Right there with you, hoping to keep my home - even though it's paid for.

I have a 45K loan against it that I am struggling with. I've been on disability for 9 months now, my COLA for 2013 was a whopping $20. Guess I was lucky. Anyway, getting ready to make out a strict budget, And unless I can find an alternate source of income, which is questionable, at some point I might have to sell my home and move to a mobile home. Luckily, there are a lot of them in FL. Unfortunately, the value of my home is about 1/2 of what it was in 2006 when I bought it, so holding out until prices in my neighborhood go up and stay there (they are up and down now.) Seriously considering doing without the basically useless "limited benefits" health insurance I now have for $130.00 per month. Blue cross here has a plan that is 40.00 and pays for an unlimited number of Dr's visits, but no hospitalization. In Nov. of 2013 I will qualify for Medicare under disability. Anyway, there are a lot of us in the club. However, even with all that, I believe that Obama is a skilled politician, but he has a good heart, and am trying to reserve judgement on his offer. I am not sorry I voted for him, did we really have a choice?

[RoverSuswade]

98. I dont know where you are, but

a friend of mine bought a nice mobile home in North Fort Myers for $12K! Things are really cheap now.

[AnnieK401]

99. Thanks!

[CranialRectaLoopback]

19. What does a lesser evil have in common with a greater evil?

Evil

[zeemike]

23. I love that....

And welcome to DU...

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

20. I'm 71, this is not the America that I grew up in.

What I don't understand is this, why isn't there more of a backlash against the present Congress from the majority of the population?
I regularly phone and email my congressman with input, but I have to admit that we agree most of the time because he is Peter DeFazio, a great progressive.

[cstanleytech]

36. Because there is a good chuck of the population who have bought into the BS the republicans sell. nt

[salin]

41. propoganda. Per fox news, and many popular (but deeply misleading) radio shows.

Millions to be made in the service of keeping their listeners outraged - and supporting policies that keep them (and us) at economic disadvantage.

[awoke_in_2003]

82. Goebbels would blush...

at the effectiveness of our propaganda machine, I mean media.

[LAGC]

21. They raided the Social Security Trust Fund, and now...

...that its going to need to be replenished via the General Fund, they feel they can fuck over everyone who has paid into it.

For shame!

[zeemike]

22. Yep...that is exactly what I got too.

13 bucks...if I make my own coffee at home that will just about cover that.
However I am far better off than many...I own my own home such as it is, and have no debt...and by not eating out and cooking my own food and cutting way back on meat... and wearing my close till they wear out and other things like that I can make it OK...and staying away from Doctors of course cause they will cost you plenty.....I wish that were the case for others.
But if you are caught in the debt trap you are fucked.

[Kablooie]

24. The Republicans think that the fact you are getting anything is too much.

They have the same mindset as the insurance companies.
They want you to pay your premiums into SS your whole life but then prevent you from getting anything back when you need it.

They think scamming people out of their savings is an honorable thing for a government to do as long as the money helps the wealthy get richer.

[cstanleytech]

37. Slight correction, it should read as

"They think scamming people out of their savings is an honorable thing to do as long as the money helps the wealthy get richer."

[BanTheGOP]

25. This is why the GOP is NOT a political party...

...as much as it is an oppressive regime that can NOT be treated like a political opponent. Its edicts is generally repressive, and does not allow for democratic consensus, and the only way to eliminate the GOP is through suing its financial apparatus through the court system. Once President Obama can replace one of the rethugs on the court with a progressive, then we can fasttrack the ability to eliminate the GOP as a viable political entity and expose it for the criminal organization it represents.

That $13 should not be blood money to allow the GOP to exist as a demonic entity, and must be banned. Period.

[barbtries]

29. it is cruel.

why would anyone think they'd stop there either. apparently they want to cut school lunches and even meals on wheels. i don't think there is a bottom to their greed or their cruelty.

[Hekate]

30. Hugs for you

I'm sorry that's all I can do. My congresswoman is a good egg, works hard, is a Dem. I vote for Dems. The damned GOP -- well, we know the history. I only hope and pray this country finds its soul once more.

Hekate

[benld74]

31. Gerrymandering is the ONLY way they can get voted into office!

[Honeycombe8]

34. A lot of people are going to be VERY upset if they decrease SS benefits. Altho, SS is a supplement.

Social Security was never intended to be a person's sole income in senior years. It ends up being that for a lot of people, but its intent was to help seniors avoid desperate circumstances, hunger, homelessness, etc. I'm fairly moderate, I think, on a lot of issues, but I will not be happy, to put it mildly, if they do anything at all to f__k with Social Security and take anything away from the elderly and most vulnerable, who didn't have anything to do with creating this mess and that money won't fix the mess, anyway!

A person's ss check is based on his/her income, so the more a person makes, the more he gets. But even "more" ain't that much.

I wish young people would realize how it will be one day for them. The new iPhone or iPad or Nike shoes that they just have to have....they will need that money when they're old. The several hundred dollars for an iPhone, put in the bank and collecting interest for several decades, will buy months of groceries, when he's old.

[nashville_brook]

39. "put that in a bank and collecting interest..." the best rate I see is 1.01%

It would take 30 years to make $300 bucks on 1000. And, you're likely to have medical bills wipe that out in the span of 30 years.

Plus, young people now have way too much student loan debt to save anything. You barely keep things afloat until the next thing knocks your down.

You're much better off maintaining a reliable smart phone that has the ability to keep you connected to better offers. Cell phones aren't luxuries. They're foundational necessities.

[Honeycombe8]

44. You can always find a reason not to do something.

There's no shortage of reasons for not doing something that's hard.

But most young people can tuck away $100 here and there, if they do without what they think they must have, now. We seem to live in a society where we continually upgrade adn get the latest and greatest....of things we don't even need. Who really needs a tablet? No one.

They could get advice and put $ in a conservative mutual fund...or save it in a savings account (getting 1% now....but that will change, and when it does, you have to have money in the bank to benefit from that).

A cell phone is good to have for an emergency situation. A prepaid cell phone would cost about $30 for the flip phone, or $50 for a smartphone-type phone, and another $500 at most of one year's minutes. I'd make the kid get by on $200 (you can buy a prepaid phone via Tracphone where you get double or triple minutes every time you buy minutes for the phone).

A smartphone is an expensive luxury that no young person needs. They're necessary for some business people. They are totally a luxury item that is unnecessary for everyone else.

The ability to recognize the difference of WANT from NEED makes the difference between who is poor when they're old, and who is not. When you're old w/o much $, you recognize really quickly the difference between WANT and NEED, since you buy almost nothing you don't NEED. A poor elderly person will not be buying a smartphone or Nike gym shoes or an iPhone or an iPad...because those things are luxury items that are unnecessary.

An elderly poor person might have a prepaid cell phone, though. They are a NEED, for emergencies.

[raouldukelives]

52. However putting money in mutual funds just feeds the machine that has brought us to this point.

And of course, eliminates any potential for basic adherence to tenants of liberalism. One may as well be a member of PETA who invests in dog fights.
If your profit from fracking, slave labor, defense contractors, denying medical claims, deals with drug cartels and fund all the climate change deniers and then turn around and give someone $1,000.00 cause it makes you feel juicy, your no better.
We need to come to reckoning on this. Out of control market speculation on the last remaining natural resources in the world is literally killing us. I know it may sound insane, but it almost seems like more speculation is not what we need.

[Honeycombe8]

97. Suffice to say that I disagree totally. nt

[raouldukelives]

100. Most people do when faced to choose between morality & money. nt

[Marrah_G]

90. So many of us do not make enough to allow for savings

And my experience is, that even if you do manage to get a few hundred or a thousand in the bank, something breaks or there is some crisis and the money comes right back out of the savings.

I think that once my generation ( I am 42) starts retiring we will be in big trouble. Pensions? Rare things these days. Wages have been stagnant for a while. I would venture to guess that I am not the only one of my peers who will be working until death.

[Glitterati]

38. That $4.00/gal gasoline this summer

didn't really happen according to chained CPI. Because when we couldn't afford the gas to get groceries, we just starved to death.

That's the goal of chained CPI.

[salin]

42. Nearly 20 years ago - my budget was about $10 per day.

Very tough to do. I was younger and prices for basic goods were lower. I also knew it was temporary. I was in grad school and chose to try to live within an extreme budget (it was the 90s an my age peers were spending big), so that I didn't accumulate debt. The idea that one can now, almost 20 years later live on $13 a day - and that the amount can be further cut to "cut the deficit" - when there are so many options to be considered - is deplorable.

[southern_belle]

43. I hear you madam...

Me too

[llmart]

46. Mine is $16.

I carry a very small mortgage and my house payments are very low, so I'm in a bit better shape, but as I posted in another thread the other day, food has become a discretionary item. I pay my bills first, and those are just the basic bills such as electricity, phone, health insurance, car insurance, house insurance, heating bills, phone. I don't have cable (no loss there). My entertainment is all from my local library. I, too, get one new pair of walking shoes a year since I walk a lot and have bad feet. Worked hard all my life.

You can do everything right in your life and still end up like this. Take my word for it. I went to college. Graduated summa cum laude. You just never expect to end up living from hand to mouth especially since we were brainwashed to believe that we live in the best country in the world. Anyone who grew up in the 50's knows that.

The difference for our parents' generation was that if they had a job, and they were a decent employee, they had a job until they chose to retire and then they had a pension. Very few in my generation have pensions. We were told we would all be millionaires if we put money into our 401K's. I religiously contributed to 401ks but I'm no millionaire. However, I see young people who still fall for that line of crap. They truly think the stock market will make them rich in their old age. They are in for a huge shock.

[michigandem58]

64. Since 1980, private pension coverage has declined from 60% to 10%

of the private sector workforce.

I was expecting a full pension, but got downsized after 21 years and my former employer turned the program over to the PBGC. Now I'm looking as a whopping $900 a month to go with my SS.

[WillyT]

48. K & R !!!

[colsohlibgal]

49. All So Billionaires Don't Have to Pay More Taxes

It's absurd. I see people with a fortune of 450 million and know it would never be me. My family and I could live very well on a fraction of that. Who needs more? It's like a nation of Scrooge McDucks swimming on piles of cash. It's wrong, it's callous.

[ErikJ]

50. Thank Darth and Darth

?w=500

These 2 are the architects and wallet of the Tea Party and Grover Norquist.

[SmileyRose]

51. k and r

[Fire Walk With Me]

53. The banks and military industrial complex have stolen trillions of taxpayer dollars with impunity.

Now they want the poor to pay for this theft. That is the socialization of the debt of the rich. That is "austerity".

Remember Greece.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

54. It IS cruel, Madame

And younger people have much to be worried about in their futures. I'm thinking of a couple that live in my building with 2 kids, maybe 8 and 10. Dad has been collecting Worker's Comp. for a year since his car was rear-ended while working for his company. His job also required some lifting, but he's been barely able to walk and is in constant pain. He's waiting for approval for back surgery. So, number one, his wages have been cut, number two if the operation is successful, he'll probably be looking for another line of work, and number three, the onus has clearly been on his working wife. Lawsuit has gone nowhere so far. This was certainly unplanned and will definitely impact the family for years. Don't they deserve some kind of safety net, too?

To me, it all boils down to inhuman unless you have so much money, you can buy your way out of any major life-changing catastrophes.

[daschess1987]

58. Mine went up $12

but I started donating $10 a month to the Humane Society in honor of my cat, Tobias (not to be confused with 'in memorium of...'). They did help us when we needed them though!

[Heathen57]

59. Wife's COLA

increase was just under $20.00. A week after we got that notice, we also got notices that her extra insurance is going up $14.00 and our lot rent is going up by another $10.00. Saturday, we found out the rent on the storage area will be upped by $10.00.

So for that *huge* increase she got we are now in the hole by $14.00. Plus, we could lose even more food stamps.

Social Security and Medicare brought millions of seniors out of poverty. It didn't allow for lavish furnishings, or eating steak every night, like the Rethugs love to claim. Every one of those asshats on the Right should have to live on what the lowest member of those they represent makes. That should be their salary.

Their attitudes would do a complete turn around if it were them getting the shaft.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

60. K&R nt

[bluedave]

62. they had better

start using the RIGHT numbers to adjust for inflation too---1.7% come on now.

[Pakid]

63. Attacking Social Security is about as low as you can go

What needs to be done is to increase SS not cut it. The fools in Washington could care less about the working people in America. Sad to say that some in the Democratic party are almost as bad as the GOP when it comes to SS. As for the chained CPI no way is that a good or fair idea. Why is it that some people feel the need to hurt those who are most at risk?

[SammyWinstonJack]

65. Because they want too and they are in a position to do so.

Why is it that some people feel the need to hurt those who are most at risk?

[daybranch]

66. How low can Congreess go?

As I understand it, a chained CPI just allows for substitutions of lower priced items as part of the cost of living index- steak goes up, switch to chicken but then if you already eat chicken , do you switch to cat food or dog food? Let me see now that somany have lost their homes are they going to make the old eat like the homeless?

[Dustlawyer]

67. That is b/c they give the perception that you get a lot more than you do!

Join me n demanding COMPLETE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM (CCFR)!!! Our politicians are bought off! We need to jerk their asses up!

[jwirr]

68. I am in much the same position and agree with you whole heartedly. I usually lose the raise but it

is the principle of the thing.

[dkf]

70. Social security is designed to provide a minimum degree of security upon which an individual builds.

"It is impossible under any social insurance system to provide ideal security for every individual. The practical objective is to pay benefits that provide a minimum degree of social security—as a basis upon which the worker, through his own efforts, will have a better chance to provide adequately for his individual security." -- From the Report of the Social Security Board recommending the changes which were embodied in the 1939 Amendments.

http://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html

[Warren Stupidity]

73. how generous you are.

Tell me how somebody on SSI was supposed to have saved enough to not rely entirely on the benefits?

For retirees in 2008, SS was 90% or more of income for 21% of aged beneficiary couples and 43% of aged nonmarried beneficiaries. Tough luck for them, huh?

[CrispyQ]

74. It is cruel.

Heartless fucking bastards.

[yardwork]

78. The social contract in the U.S. has been broken.

[lovuian]

85. You have proven that Social Security is a necessity

as well as other social programs

We progressed to a society which supported their elderly children and sick

the Republicans want us to go to Dickens times and the days where the poor camped out in tents outside
the White House called Hooverville

and I'm afraid they are very mistaken

[Milliesmom]

87. No raise for Congress!!

How about starting a petition at the white house for NO raise for Congress, no raise for any of them except middle class people needing help!!

[Marrah_G]

88. It's not right

Washington is not afraid of the 99%...they are afraid of (or are part of) the 1%. So none of this should surprise anyone.

I'm sorry this is happening to you and so many others. It's wrong, very wrong.

[cui bono]

94. Obama does as well or he wouldn't have put SS into his proposal.

He should have told them to F off.

[sabrina 1]

95. It is cruel. There is no other word to describe taking money away from

the most vulnerable Americans. However, it seems the Republicans have rejected the Chained CPI, for now.

[byoung6]

96. I am in the same boat

I live on SS, I cannot work anymore as I am too sick. If it were not for living with my 76 year old Mother I would be in really really bad straights. I have had discussions with people from time to time who like to think that those on SS have it so good, I calmly explain to them that living on SS as your only income is poverty, pure poverty, and I dont know many people who after working all they're lives would choose poverty. People who have known me of course politely excuse me from the narrative, but I don't let them off the hook that easy, I ask them to give me a specific situation they are talking about living the high life, I have yet to get one example.
Anyway, I am truley you're in solidarity madamesilverspurs. You take care.