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Retirees to Receive a Much Needed COLA

Social Security beneficiaries will receive a much-needed, 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2019 – providing a $39 bump to the average monthly retirement benefit. The 2019 COLA is higher than 2018’s (2.0%), which was partially offset by an increase in Medicare Part B premiums for many beneficiaries. With Medicare Part B premiums anticipated to rise minimally for most beneficiaries next year, most Social Security recipients will be able to keep the lion’s share of the cost-of-living increase.

“This COLA is good news for seniors living on fixed incomes. Every extra dollar helps. But the current COLA formula (the CPI-W) is inadequate because it does not account for seniors’ rising expenses – especially housing and health care. COLAs could be improved by adopting the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), which is based on retirees’ actual spending habits rather than those of the general population,” – Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

There is legislation in Congress, including Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 Act and Rep. John Garamendi’s CPI-E Act of 2017, which would require the use of the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly to determine COLAs for a broad array of federal retirement programs, including Social Security. November’s elections may breathe new life into these bills after languishing under the current Congressional leadership.

Source: NCPSSM

The Women of Steel: Stepping Up

SS Future Depends on November Elections

On Social Security’s 83rd Anniversary

Program’s Future Depends on November Elections

After eight decades of paying benefits to multiple generations of retired workers – and keeping them out of poverty – one would think Social Security’s legacy would be apparent and its promise secure. Yet, here we are in 2018, with Social Security under threat from conservatives who clearly don’t believe in that promise. Using the misleading label “entitlement reform,” they want to cut benefits, raise the retirement age, and privatize the program. They attempt to break the compact by dividing the generations with the specious argument that any “reforms” wouldn’t affect current retirees, only future ones – who, in reality, won’t need Social Security any less. Don’t worry, we’re only cutting your children and grandchildren’s benefits – not yours!

Source: NCPSSM Blog

It's Important to Vote

It is Important to Vote

I know you heard this before that this is the most important election and you need to vote. I have to say that since I have been voting, for several decades and reviewing the impact and results of the last election, this really is the most important election for the middle – working class. Let me explain why I say that.

Take an objective review of what is happening with our government. Our various regulatory agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), are being run by the appointment of individuals who do not even agree with the purpose and function of the agencies they have been appointed to. For example, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is reducing various protections regarding pollution and the environment, etc. Regulations that were intended to protect workers’ rights by the NLRB are being taken away, an Education Secretary that does not support all of the functions and the purpose of the agency, and now we see the attempt to appoint a Supreme Court Justice that is supported by conservative big money and business interests. 

The recent tax cut legislation that provides most of the benefits to big business and the wealthy is estimated to increase the US Government deficit over a trillion and a half dollars. Some legislators are using this expected deficit as the basis for cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. The list could go on and on. 

What is happening with our government will, and can adversely affect us, our children and grandchildren. Elections have consequences, make sure you are registered and vote.

Bill Gibbons, PACE Representative

We Are Steelworkers

Expanding Social Security

The “Expand Social Security” Caucus: Sign of Growing Momentum in Congress 

Too many older Americans struggle to make ends meet. We’ve told politicians in Washington for years that an average monthly Social Security benefit of $1,413 is not enough to ensure a dignified retirement. In fact, it puts the average retiree just above the poverty level. 

This fact hasn’t stopped politicians from looking to cut or privatize Social Security time and again. And throughout 2018 we’ve heard near-constant threats, from top GOP officials both inside and outside the administration, to slash so-called “entitlement” spending in order to rein in federal deficits caused by the tax scam Congress passed in 2017. 

Retirees know how important Social Security is to our quality of life, and that it needs to be protected for us and for future generations. We have earned these benefits, and we will not let anyone take them without a fight.

The newly formed Congressional Expand Social Security Caucus is comprised of more than 150 Democrats from the House and Senate who are committed to protecting, strengthening, and expanding Social Security. 

In the Senate, the Expand Caucus is chaired by Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Elizabeth Warren (MA). In the House, co-chairs include Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), Conor Lamb (PA), John Larson (CT), and Terri Sewell (AL).

Expanding Social Security will help all retirees, present and future, to have the secure retirement they worked a lifetime to achieve. We must support elected officials, like the members of this caucus, who understand that Social Security must be expanded to keep pace with retirees’ actual expenses. 

Robert Roach, Jr. is president of the Alliance for Retired Americans.  He was previously General Secretary‐Treasurer of the IAMAW.  For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org.

Most Americans Agree on Fair Trade

Most Americans Agree on Fair Trade

Americans across the country stand firm in their belief that anybody who is part of the political system in Washington, D.C. can’t agree on anything.

This is unfortunate, because when you put partisan politics aside, many Americans agree on a variety of issues that would help move our country forward.

When asked to share your opinion on major policies of the federal government, it doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent. These three groups agree on exponentially more policies when you take away their political party affiliation ideologies.

One example, from a recent poll conducted for the Alliance for American Manufacturing by the Mellman Group Inc., and Public Opinion Strategies suggests that most of the never-miss-an-election voters are more concerned about addressing China’s unfair trade practices than the potential for a trade war. When asked to get tough on China and other countries that practice unfair trade, a whopping 81 percent of poll respondents agreed with the statement, “We must be willing to get tough with trade restrictions on countries like China who cheat in international trade.”

Republicans led the way with 94 percent in agreement, but 78 percent of Independents and 70 percent of Democrats were in favor of a tougher trade stance, too. These numbers would likely be similar if partisan politics was not a factor.

The startling support of 94 percent of Republicans would decrease but the party faithful is supporting their man in the White House. The number of Democrats in favor would most likely increase but progressives are against anything and everything the president stands for. The Democrats are giving him  the same treatment Republicans bestowed on President Obama.

So, maybe the number of Americans greatly concerned about fair international trade is closer to the 78 percent of Independents. This is still a stunning number of Americans that agree on one federal government policy. 

This is overwhelming evidence that most Americans agree about correcting unfair trade and the current administration seems bound and determined to level the playing field.

AAM President Scott Paul said, “Even in this era of upended politics, pushing back against unfair trade practices is an issue that largely unites American voters.”

Jeff Bonior, Staff Writer for the Alliance for American Manufacturing

S.S. Future Depends on November Election

On Social Security’s 83rd Anniversary

Program’s Future Depends on November Elections

After eight decades of paying benefits to multiple generations of retired workers – and keeping them out of poverty – one would think Social Security’s legacy would be apparent and its promise secure. Yet, here we are in 2018, with Social Security under threat from conservatives who clearly don’t believe in that promise. Using the misleading label “entitlement reform,” they want to cut benefits, raise the retirement age, and privatize the program. They attempt to break the compact by dividing the generations with the specious argument that any “reforms” wouldn’t affect current retirees, only future ones – who, in reality, won’t need Social Security any less. Don’t worry, we’re only cutting your children and grandchildren’s benefits – not yours!

Source: NCPSSM Blog

Tax Cuts for the Rich are Threatening Our Retirement Security

Tax Cuts for the Rich are Threatening Our Retirement Security

The Joint Committee on Taxation, a non-partisan Committee of the United States Congress, originally established under the Revenue Act of 1926, and is Congress’ official estimator of tax legislation, reported that a lopsided 38 percent of the benefits of the tax bill that the president signed in December 2017 (H.R. 1) will go to households making more than $1 million per year (approximately 3 of every 1,000 Americans who file taxes). ¹

Though backers of the law said the tax cuts would pay for themselves, a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office shows that under the new tax law the nation’s debt could spike by $33 trillion over the next ten years, potentially resulting in another debt crisis. ²

With wages being stagnant for nearly three decades, you might be asking yourself how hard-working Americans are going to find the money to pay for this expensive law which benefits so few.  

The answer – according to some in Congress – cuts to Social Security and Medicare, of course!  As Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey explained, “(t)hese big spending programs that are growing faster than the economy,”…“you’ve got to make some curbs.”  That’s easy to say when the people who funded his campaign are the ones seeing the biggest benefit from H.R. 1. ³  

However, not everyone is on board with the idea.  On September 23, 2018, it was announced that 19 U.S. Senators and 140 House members have added their name to a new Expand Social Security Caucus being led by Senators Bernie Sanders (VT), Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Democratic Reps. John Larson and Debbie Dingell of Michigan. ⁴

As union members, we believe every American deserves a secure retirement.  We also understand that Social Security and Medicare are programs that workers have paid into our entire lives.  We won’t forget this when we vote in the pivotal midterm elections which conclude on Tuesday, November 6.  

Sources:

 https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/joint-committee-on-taxation-distribution-tables-confirm-skewed-priorities-of

² https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/us/politics/federal-deficit-tax-cuts-spending-trump.html

³https://community.aarp.org/t5/Politics-Current-Events/GOP-Speaker-Ryan-Cuts-OUR-Social-Security-gets-85-000-pension-at/td-p/2045985

⁴https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/406495-more-than-150-democrats-launch-expand-social-security-caucus  

Julie Stein, SOAR Director