ARA Friday Alert, 10-18-13

Headlines:
Budget Agreement Averts Immediate Crisis, but Threats to Seniors Still Loom;
Alliance Chapters Protest Government Shutdown with Die-Ins, Other Tactics;
Poll Shows Public Once Again Disapproving of Cuts to Social Security, Medicare;
Medicare Enrollment Season is Here – is Your Current Plan Still the Best for You?

Budget Agreement Averts Immediate Crisis, but Threats to Seniors Still Loom
The U.S. House and Senate passed legislation on Wednesday night to end the government shutdown and stop the country from hitting its debt ceiling. President Obama immediately signed the bill into law before a default could ensue. The agreement contains four elements:

The federal government will be funded through January 15, 2014 at sequestration levels;
The debt limit is extended until February 7, 2014;
A House-Senate budget conference will be established to come up with long-term spending plans by December 13, 2013 (however, there will be no automatic enforcement mechanism should a conference report not be reached); and
Income verification steps will be added for recipients of subsidies under Obamacare’s newly-established health care exchanges

The bill, known as H.R. 2775, passed the Senate 81-18 and the House 285-144. No Democrats in either house voted against it. A majority of Senate Republicans voted for the bill, while a majority of House Republicans voted against it. The Senate roll call is at http://tinyurl.com/mzmzluy, and the House roll call can be found at http://tinyurl.com/lbz73tb.

On Thursday, both the House and Senate appointed conferees to the budget conference to come up with a plan to cut the deficit before a December 13 deadline. House Republicans named Budget Chair Paul Ryan (WI), along with Reps. Tom Cole (OK), Tom Price (GA), and Diane Black (TN). Democrats named Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen (MD), James Clyburn (SC), and Appropriations Committee ranking member Nita Lowey (NY).

The Senate named the entire Budget Committee as conferees. They are committee chair Patty Murray (WA), and Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (OR), Bill Nelson (FL), Debbie Stabenow (MI), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Mark Warner (VA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Chris Coons (DE), Tammy Baldwin (WI), and Tim Kaine (VA) as well as Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME), who caucus with the Democrats. The Republicans are Jeff Sessions (AL), Chuck Grassley (IA), Mike Enzi (WY), Mike Crapo (ID), Lindsey Graham (SC), Pat Toomey (PA), Ron Johnson (WI), Kelly Ayotte (NH) and Roger Wicker (MS).

The following Republicans who are on the conference committee voted against the agreement to reopen the government: Reps. Ryan, Price, Black and Sens. Sessions, Grassley, Enzi, Crapo, Toomey and Johnson.

The budget conference brings with it serious potential threats to Social Security and Medicare. If you have not already sent a message telling your U.S. Representative and Senators not to cut Social Security or Medicare as part of the budget conference, click on http://tinyurl.com/l9zrmgj.

“There is real danger ahead of a ‘grand bargain’ that would cut seniors’ Social Security and Medicare benefits, giving us more reason to be anxious. Such a deal would more accurately be termed a ‘Grand Betrayal,’" said Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. To read the Alliance’s press release regarding the budget deal, go to http://tinyurl.com/nx25adf. For a Politico article on how House members running for Senate seats voted, go to http://tinyurl.com/mdqe6tm. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said on Thursday in the Huffington Post that he would make sure to protect Social Security against attempts to trade cuts for sequestration relief (http://tinyurl.com/p6mtb7w). For a new Alliance fact sheet comparing the President's FY 2014 Budget to the Ryan House Budget and the U.S. Senate Budget, go to http://tinyurl.com/khxglqx.

Alliance Chapters Protest Government Shutdown with Die-Ins, Other Tactics
California Alliance members staged “Die-In’s” in Los Angeles and San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon to draw attention to the sobering cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that are being discussed. On the eve of the government re-opening and debt ceiling extension, seniors, protestors  from the disability community and others wore black clothing and skull masks, adding to the effect by carrying black roses with signs reading: “Cause of Death: Cuts to Medicare.” News and compelling photos at http://tinyurl.com/qykx8wd, http://cbsloc.al/1cz1Ai0, and http://huff.to/1aSbY28 (photos at bottom!). Other Alliance chapters all across the country joined with AFSCME and coalition partners this week to put more pressure on Congress to re-open the government and raise the debt ceiling without cutting seniors’ programs. Alliance members also sent more than 14,000 pass-through letters to Congress with a similar message since just last week.

“Thank you to everyone who did your part to re-open the government and raise the debt ceiling without doing so at seniors’ expense,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance.

Poll Shows Public Once Again Disapproving of Cuts to Social Security, Medicare
The public wants to reduce the debt, but is unwilling to cut Social Security and Medicare, according to a recent United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection poll. On Social Security, 76% of poll respondents say they don't want spending to be cut at all; just 21% say they want spending on the program to be reduced a lot or some. With Medicare, 81% oppose any cuts, while only 18% back reductions of any kind. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/lna783s.

Medicare Enrollment Season is Here – is Your Current Plan Still the Best for You?
The seven-week enrollment period for next year’s Medicare prescription drug and managed-care plans began on Tuesday. Seniors should not simply renew their policies and assume the current coverage will stay the same, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). That is because there is a likely payoff for those who pay close attention to the details. In the past, price hikes, poor performance, and changes in covered drugs were often not enough to spur the vast majority of seniors into action. Only 13% changed policies in the four years since Congress added the drug benefit to Medicare in 2006, according to another analysis released last week by KFF.

“If seniors keep the same plan despite an insurance company offering a bad deal, it gives the insurers an incentive to keep their prices high,” said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. For more on Medicare plans and open enrollment, go to http://tinyurl.com/ls8bkdv.


For a printable version of this document, go to http://tinyurl.com/op7g5tq. 

ARA Friday Alert 10-11-13

Headlines:
Seniors’ Issues Front and Center in Government Shutdown, Debt Ceiling Talks
More than Two Dozen House Republicans Open to a Clean Government Funding Bill
Gerrymandering Has Made the Tea Party Stronger
Early Voting for Cincinnati Pension Issue Has Begun
Pennsylvania Alliance Holds Its Convention in Grantville, PA

Seniors’ Issues Front and Center in Government Shutdown, Debt Ceiling Talks
On Wednesday, a letter instigated by Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI) was signed by 51 House Republicans, urging Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to make cuts to Social Security benefits before the debt ceiling is raised and the government is re-opened. To read the letter and see if your U.S Representative was one of those who signed it, go to http://bit.ly/164ZAZY. The letter recommends:

•    raising the retirement age;
•    implementing the chained CPI benefit cut to Social Security;
•    means testing Social Security benefits for higher income recipients; and
•    cutting the FICA withholding rate that funds the Social Security Trust Fund.

“The letter was nothing short of a direct assault on Social Security,” said Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. “This will undoubtedly be a major issue for months to come and into the 2014 elections.” A blog post about the letter at The Daily Kos is here: http://bit.ly/GROQZe.

Also, on Wednesday, another Representative from Wisconsin, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal asking for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in exchange for an increase to the debt ceiling http://tinyurl.com/larfndb. For the latest on the budget negotiations from Politico, go to http://tinyurl.com/kt6e2tk.

More than Two Dozen House Republicans Open to a Clean Government Funding Bill
Several House Republicans have said they are open to supporting a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR, a government funding bill), but are not interested in forcing a vote on such a measure. Such a bill would re-open the government without cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid or any other conditions. Democrats have launched a discharge petition aimed at forcing a vote on that legislation; two hundred and eighteen signatures are required to compel a roll call, and that looks unlikely any time soon. Mr. Boehner has said a clean continuing resolution doesn’t have the votes to pass the House. President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) challenged him on Monday to prove it by scheduling a vote. To see which Representatives are open to a clean CR and what they are saying, go to http://tinyurl.com/mgqzw6x.

The Alliance sent a special message to activists from those Representatives’ and other Congressional Districts, including a pass-through letter to the U.S. House, on Wednesday. If you have not signed the letter demanding a Clean Continuing Resolution to Re-open the Government and No Cuts to Seniors’ Programs, go to http://bit.ly/1gwvc2a.

Gerrymandering Has Made the Tea Party Stronger
According to National Journal, resolving the serial showdowns over the federal budget and debt ceiling may be more difficult now than during the last shutdown under Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, because so many more House Republicans today represent safe GOP districts (http://tinyurl.com/k2ppet5). “Comparing today's 232-seat Republican majority with the 236 seats Republicans ultimately held after special elections and party switches from 1995-96 underscores the extent to which GOP legislators have succeeded in fortifying themselves into homogeneously conservative districts,” the article says – a reference to gerrymandering. Data show that the percentage of House Republicans in overwhelmingly safe districts has soared, while the portion in even marginally competitive seats has plummeted. This means that the personal electoral incentives for most House Republicans would encourage more—not less—confrontation as the standoffs proceed, notes Gary C. Jacobson, an expert on Congress at the University of California (San Diego). “The electoral threat of them angering anybody outside of their base is pretty low,” he says.

“I don’t think this is what our forefathers had in mind when they set up the American system of government,” said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “Gerrymandering sets up a dynamic where a small, extreme faction can subvert the constitution.”

Early Voting for Cincinnati Pension Issue Has Begun
On Tuesday, the Alliance and AFSCME teamed up to recruit volunteers to defeat Issue 4, a ballot initiative to eliminate public workers’ pensions in Cincinnati. The biggest change would be to workers employed by the city beginning in 2014: instead of getting a defined benefit at retirement, with a known payment each month, employees would have a 401k plan. In addition, taxes and fees on Cincinnati residents would increase. Norm Wernet, President of the Ohio Alliance, and Betty Thomas, coordinator for Ohio AFSCME Retiree Chapter 1184, led a conference call with local Alliance and AFSCME members on Tuesday. Early voting on this issue has already begun, and the election will be held on November 5. “These are hard workers who depend even more on their pensions, because they don't receive Social Security,” said Mr. Wernet.

Pennsylvania Alliance Holds Its Convention in Grantville, PA
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans (PARA) held its Triennial Convention in Grantville, PA.  Wayne Burton was elected President, after previously serving as Secretary since 2010 and as a Zone Coordinator in 2008. Mr. Burton is a retired Political Science professor from West Chester University, and is the President of APSCURF, the retiree organization for the union representing all state university professors.  John White, an AFSCME Retiree, was elected Executive Vice President; Dwayne Thomas, a retired Mine Worker, was elected Secretary; and Mike Doyle, a community member from Bucks County, was re-elected Treasurer.  The delegates heard from speakers such as Alliance President Barbara Easterling; Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder; Alliance Director for Philanthropy and Corporate Relations Dani Pere; National Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) Director Jim Centner; and Assistant Director of AFSCME Retirees Karen Gilgoff.  Outgoing President Jean Friday and retired Board Member Charlie Kelly were both honored at the banquet for their service to PARA. 

“Congratulations to all the new and retired officers!” said Ms. Easterling. “We are sorry to see Jean Friday step down. She has been so instrumental in all of the Pennsylvania Alliance’s major accomplishments during her tenure. Pennsylvania’s 10 year anniversary of our chartering with the Alliance is coming up in 2014 – we wouldn’t have made it without you, Jean!”



For a printable version of this document, go to http://bit.ly/1cEkk24. 

Meet Those Responsible for the Shutdown

Friday Alert, 9-27-13

Headlines:
Latest on a Possible Shutdown of the Federal Government
Debt Ceiling: A Threat to Social Security and Medicare
Human Chain Event to Take Place on October 3 at the U.S. Capitol
Rep. Linda Sanchez’s Social Security Legislation Already Has 30 Co-sponsors
Social Security Benefits Likely to be Paid on Time Even if There is a Shutdown

Latest on a Possible Shutdown of the Federal Government
On Thursday, top House Republican leaders rejected the short-term spending plan expected to be passed by the Senate in coming days, increasing the possibility of a government shutdown next week. Asked if the House would pass the bill unchanged once it is sent from the Senate, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) replied, “I do not see that happening.”

According to The Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), using rules allowing him to change the wording of a spending measure passed last week by the House, is expected to strip out language that would defund the health reform law, change the expiration date on the funding bill to Nov. 15, and pass the measure with a simple majority achieved entirely with Democratic votes.

Once the bill returns to the House, any move to change it would by necessity mean that the fight over funding the government would almost certainly continue at least until the final minutes of the fiscal year late on Monday night, since the Senate’s rules would make swift consideration unlikely. More at http://tinyurl.com/p92kxgg.

Debt Ceiling: A Threat to Social Security and Medicare
While a relatively short shutdown may not imperil Social Security beneficiaries, the failure by lawmakers to raise the nation's borrowing limit could.

“The biggest risk to Social Security payments is the debt ceiling,” said Charles Konigsberg, who was assistant director of the White House budget office during the last shutdown.

If the ceiling isn't raised, the Treasury Department will eventually run short of funds to pay all its bills. The debt limit will be reached “no later than October 17,” Treasury secretary Jack Lew wrote to Speaker Boehner on Wednesday.

According to Bloomberg News, Senate Republicans have a strategy for lifting the U.S. borrowing limit: offer what President Barack Obama asked for in his budget, then dare him to refuse. Republicans would be willing to replace some of the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts to domestic and military programs over the next nine years in exchange for cuts to Social Security and Medicare, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said.

In July, the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, released drafts that include the Chained CPI formula to cut Social Security benefits, along with reducing payments to hospitals and other providers under Medicare. The ideas were borrowed from President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget and proposals put forward by his 2010 deficit-reduction commission. By contrast, in their budget plans, Republicans advocated converting Medicare to a voucher program and changing Medicaid to a state-based block-grant system. More at http://tinyurl.com/nhxxmce.

Human Chain Event to Take Place on October 3 at the U.S. Capitol
The Congressional Progressive Caucus plans to host a Human Chain press conference in opposition to the Chained CPI next Thursday, October 3 at 10 a.m. at the House Triangle. This Human Chain press conference follows the success of nationwide Human Chain events organized by the Alliance for Retired Americans in conjunction with our coalition partners on July 2, 2013.  The July 2 events took place in more than 50 cities with support from the labor movement, Social Security Works, and other allies. More than 20 Members of Congress have agreed to participate on October 3.  If you are in the DC area, please RSVP to attend here: http://tinyurl.com/oqq278r. Regardless of where you are, join the event remotely and share it with your friends and allies via this Facebook event: http://tinyurl.com/pylbnof.

“Activists are going to be heard at the right time – while budget issues are red-hot,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance.

Rep. Linda Sanchez’s Social Security Legislation Already Has 30 Co-sponsors
For a list of current cosponsors of H.R. 3118, the Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013 introduced by Rep. Linda Sanchez, (D-CA), go to http://tinyurl.com/ps8zvxa. Instead of offering a cold, calculated benefit cut like the Chained CPI, this legislation would actually increase annual Social Security benefits by an average of $800. “By using a cost-of-living formula like the CPI-E that more accurately reflects the expenses of Social Security beneficiaries, and by raising the cap on taxable income so that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share towards Social Security, we can extend the life of the Social Security Trust Fund and provide better benefits to Americans who worked hard their entire lives,” said Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance.

Social Security Benefits Likely to be Paid on Time Even if There is a Shutdown
According to CNN, in the event of a shutdown, it's very likely that the nearly 58 million people who receive Social Security benefits would still be paid on time. The money used to fund Social Security benefits is automatically authorized and not dependent on Congress coming to a compromise on a new federal spending measure by Monday night. However, what isn't automatically authorized is the money that Congress appropriates every year to run the Social Security Administration and pay its employees to process those benefits.

During the last two government shutdowns in the mid-1990s, Social Security checks were sent out on schedule. That happened even though the Social Security Administration was grossly understaffed during the first -- and shorter -- of the two shutdowns. It had kept on just under 5,000 employees. Once it realized how many more were needed to carry out essential duties, the agency was quick to staff up. By the second shutdown, which lasted 21 days, the agency required the majority of its employees (55,992) to keep coming to work, furloughing just 10,203 workers.

“Applicants for new benefits would be in much greater danger of facing delays than current beneficiaries would,” said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance.

For a printable version of this document, go to http://bit.ly/15yQa8I.