Romney Speaks With Forked Tongue

Your Vote Counts

Undecided?

Undecided - You have got to be kidding me! I have voted in every Presidential election since I became old enough to vote.  Never in my lifetime, have the differences in the candidates on the issues pertaining to working class Americans ever been clearer. We have one candidate that caters to the rich and famous, who unabashedly campaigns on issues that will line the pockets of the wealthy while; depriving needed services to retirees, working Americans and the poor. The other candidate has demonstrated, through his first four years in office, that he is the President of all the people. He believes in a strong middle class and has promoted policies to rebuild a strong economy; that will enhance the quality of life of all Americans, not just a privileged few.

How can someone be undecided at this stage of the electoral process? Either you support the fated schemes of trickle-down economics, that created the worst recession since the Great Depression, or you support Barack Obama for reelection. We must give him the opportunity to continue the programs and policies that are lifting us out of the muck and mire left by eight years of failed strategies by the previous administration.

For too many years, many of us have been wedded to single issues or party loyalty when it came to presidential elections. It is time for us to come to grips with reality and vote for the candidate that best represents our interest. In this election, Barack Obama is that candidate. That is why I am voting to reelect him President. He has demonstrated that he deserves four more years!

Jim Centner, SOAR (Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees) Director

Veterans Support President Obama

Election Day is Rapidly Approaching

By the time you read this article, we will be less than two weeks away from what is probably the most important election of our lifetime. I know you all have heard this before. It seems like every election we say this and unfortunately, because of the world we live in, every election we mean it. Each election is a fight for our survival!

After listening to a year of campaigning from both parties, it is pretty clear that re-electing President Obama is in the best interest of working class America.  For retirees, he has pledged to protect Social Security and Medicare for years to come. He passed the “Affordable Care Act,” which provides much needed preventive screenings for Medicare recipients, closes the “doughnut hole” in the prescription drug program and extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund.

To maintain a strong economy, President Obama is committed to re-building manufacturing. He has demonstrated his commitment to manufacturing by saving the auto industry and 350 million other jobs associated with auto assembly. His administration has placed tariffs on tires, steel pipe, paper and other goods that were flooding the American market in violation of our nation’s trade laws and that has put thousands of Americans back to work.

We all must remember where we were four years ago; on the brink of a depression. Yes, we are in a much better place today. The economy is starting to turn around. The unemployment numbers are falling and every day more and more Americans are going back to work. We have two choices on November 6; we can either continue on the path of recovery or go back to policies that created the worst recession since the Great Depression. The choice is clear.

Connie Entrekin, SOAR (Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees) President

Cameras Don't Lie

Obama Pride: LGBT Americans for Obama

A message from Bruce Springsteen

October 17, 2012

Dear Friends:

The election is coming up on all of us and we all have strong feelings about it. I’ve been getting asked a lot about where I stand, so for those who are interested, here goes.

This presidential election is different than the last one because President Obama has a four year record to run on. Last time around, he carried with him a tremendous amount of hope and expectations. Unfortunately, due to the economic chaos the previous administration left him with, and the extraordinary intensity of the opposition, it turned into a really rough ride. But through grit, determination, and focus, the President has been able to do a great many things that many of us deeply support.

Domestically, that record includes working to increase and expand employment for all, protecting our all important social safety net, passing guaranteed health care for most of our citizens, with important new protections for all of the insured, rescuing the auto industry and so many of the American jobs that go with it, protecting and enhancing the rights of women, and bringing us closer to full acceptance of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

In foreign affairs, that record includes following through on the removal of troops from the misguided and deceptive war in Iraq, and vigorously pursuing our real foreign enemies, especially the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Right now the opposition’s resort to voter suppression in so many states is not receiving as much attention as it deserves. I believe that all of us, of whatever views, should be opposing these anti-voter, anti-citizen efforts.

Right now, for the President to be effective in his next term he needs our increased support and he needs support in the Congress, where some sterling candidates, such as current Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, challenger Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, and so many others, are fighting to make their constructive voices heard.

Right now, there is an ever increasing division of wealth in this country, with the benefits going more and more to the 1 percent. For me, President Obama is our best choice to begin to reverse this harmful development.

Right now, there is a fight going on to help make this a fairer and more equitable nation. For me, President Obama is our best choice to get us and keep us moving in the right direction.

Right now, we need a President who has a vision that includes all of our citizens, not just some, whether they are our devastated poor, our pressured middle class, and yes, the wealthy too; whether they are male or female, black, white, brown, or yellow, straight or gay, civilian or military.

Right now, there is a choice going on in America, and I’m happy that we live in a country where we all participate in that process. For me, President Obama is our best choice because he has a vision of the United States as a place where we are all in this together. We’re still living through very hard times but justice, equality and real freedom are not always a tide rushing in. They are more often a slow march, inch by inch, day after long day. I believe President Obama feels these days in his bones and has the strength to live them with us and to lead us to a country “…where no one crowds you and no one goes it alone.”

That’s why I plan to be in Ohio and Iowa supporting the re-election of President Obama to lead our country for the next four years.

Bruce Springsteen

Seniors Face Uncertain Future

                 Social Security Increase Good News, but Seniors Face Uncertain Future

The following statement was issued today by Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, in response to a 1.7 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security.

“The modest inflationary increase in Social Security benefits is good news for seniors, but it could soon be greatly overshadowed by troubling political and legislative developments.

“Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are running on a platform that would badly damage Social Security for current and future retirees.  They continue to perpetuate the false and corrosive myth that Social Security fuels our national debt, wanting workers and retirees to pay the price for a budget deficit they did not cause.  The Romney-Ryan plan would cut benefits, raise the retirement age, and let Wall Street profit from a risky privatized system.

“The second threat to Social Security will be a lame-duck session of Congress that will meet in November to consider cuts in federal spending.  Turning a blind eye to the budgetary impact of tax cuts for the wealthy, some in Washington are proposing devastating changes to the formula used to calculate the Social Security COLA.

“The current formula, used for today’s announcement, already badly understates the inflation experienced by seniors and disabled Americans, who make up the majority of Social Security beneficiaries.  However, the change some in Congress want would exacerbate this flaw in a way that is particularly damaging for women who, because of their greater life expectancy, receive benefits over a longer period of time.

“While today’s modest adjustment will provide some help for retirees, I am deeply disturbed that too many in politics see Social Security as yet another pension fund that can be raided to advance the interests of a select few.”

The Alliance for Retired Americans is a national organization that advocates for the rights and well being of over 4 million retirees and their families.

Romney Selling Out American Workers

Alliance for Retired Americans Friday Alert 10-5-12

Debate Highlights the Differences between Romney and Obama
The first of three presidential debates took place on Wednesday, with President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney both striving to gain favor with the middle class and seniors. “Mitt Romney continued to hide the details about how he’d repeal Obamacare and still keep all of its benefits for seniors, such as more affordable prescription drugs and free preventive care,” said Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. Coyle also said that Romney had relentlessly mischaracterized recent improvements to Medicare, “advancing his plan to gut traditional Medicare with a voucher-based scheme that gives more power and profits to the big insurance companies.”

“Even on a night when Obama wasn’t at his best, the President offered a more fair and honest path forward for seniors,” he continued. “Mitt Romney knows his explanations just don’t add up logically or mathematically and would hurt for the middle-class. He would take Medicare away from Grandma, and Big Bird away from her grandkids,” Coyle added - a reference to proposed cuts by Romney to public broadcasting in addition to Medicare.

Judge Halts Pennsylvania Voter ID Law
On Tuesday, a Pennsylvania judge declared that the state should not allow its harsh new voter identification law to take effect for the November election.  In his ruling, Judge Robert Simpson said that the state had not made sufficient progress towards supplying photo identification to voters, and therefore the law held a great potential to disenfranchise otherwise qualified voters.  Election officials may now request voters to show identification, but they may not turn away registered voters who had not been able to obtain the identification or force them to cast provisional ballots.  However, Matthew Keeler, deputy press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said officials have not decided whether to appeal Tuesday's ruling. The voter ID law was passed by newly elected state leaders in Pennsylvania, one of whom said that the law would “allow Governor Romney to win the state.”

“A great injustice has so far been averted thanks to the Pennsylvania Courts and Judge Simpson,” said Coyle. “Pennsylvania seniors, many of whom do not have a driver’s license or other photo-identification, have been spared the hardship associated with getting one and the atrocity of disenfranchisement. Now we have to hope that there is no appeal that reverses the decision.”

Alan Simpson Strikes Again
Former U.S. Senator and co-chairman of President Obama’s deficit commission Alan Simpson told an audience on Tuesday that politicians talk too much about the poor and vulnerable for political gain, and that he regrets the way his opponents have used his commission’s recommendations. “Could you please cut out the babble? Would you quit talking about the poor, the vulnerable, the veterans, the old ladies going over cliffs, the hospices, the bedpans?” Simpson said at the event. According to Huffington Post (http://huff.to/Ptp2Qq), Simpson spent much of his time on the panel railing against those who have opposed the recommendations made by the Simpson-Bowles commission, formerly known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The commission’s plan was mentioned several times at this week’s debate. Simpson also recalled his interaction with the California Alliance for Retired Americans. Earlier this year, the California Alliance handed out a flyer featuring images of young people and saying that Simpson was using the deficit as an excuse to gut Social Security; Simpson responded with a letter that was noted for its outrageousness: http://bit.ly/KyMQ1o.

“What a wretched group of seniors you must be to use the faces of the very young people that we are trying to save, while the ‘greedy geezers’ like you use them as a tool and a front for your nefarious bunch of crap.” Simpson wrote. “You must feel some sense of shame for shoveling this bullshit.” At the time, the Alliance responded with a press release (http://bit.ly/KTZKsS). On Tuesday, Simpson slammed AARP for resisting cuts to Social Security and Medicare. He also mistakenly encouraged audience members to visit www.fixthedebt.com, which belongs to a debt consolidation and credit repair company.

Connecticut Alliance Voices its Disapproval of Paul Ryan, Linda McMahon
The Connecticut Alliance “welcomed” Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan to Connecticut on Sunday, with members protesting his policies that would benefit the wealthy at the expense of Medicare and Social Security. The next day, the Connecticut Alliance hosted a demonstration outside U.S. Senate nominee/former Word Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon’s headquarters, focusing on her call to “sunset” Social Security. A video of McMahon saying that she would favor sunsetting - a policy allowing Social Security to expire if the law is not renewed, placing its long-term future in jeopardy - has been getting widespread attention recently (http://bit.ly/PBpuMg).

Barbara Easterling Addresses Postal Workers in Virginia
Alliance President Barbara J. Easterling was in Fairfax County, Virginia Wednesday to address the American Postal Workers Union. “Yes, we are labor activists.  Yes, we are seniors activists. But what we fight for goes beyond any one group of workers or any one age group,” she told the crowd.

Something on Your Mind? Write Letter, Win Pen!
Is there something you want retirees in your community to know about?  Take a moment to write a letter to the editor, and if it is published, the Alliance will send you a free, union-made “Retirees with the Write Stuff” pen. “Letters to the editor are free and are widely read,” said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “With the wealthy business interests we are up against, it’s nice to have an option that doesn’t cost anything.” Most recently, Adolphe Bernotas, Don Berry, Leon Burzynski, Barbara Cunningham, Doug Curler, Bentley Davis, Robert Dougherty, Jeanne Doyle, Raymond Ensher, Bob Felzke, John Forkan, Jr., Barbara Franklin, Tony Fransetta, Francis Giunta, Doug Hart, Doug Hill, Jan Laue, Bob and Joni Laurence, Jim Moore, Jody Oliver, James Parent, Dianna Porter, Carol Ring, Linda Silva, Donald Singer, William Stevens, Scotty Watts, Ethan West, and Charlie Williamscontributed to their local papers. If you have had a letter published, please e-mailaracommunications@retiredamericans.org.

For a printable version of this document, go to http://bit.ly/Wv8CvV.

Debate Showed Sharp Contrast

ALLIANCE FOR RETIRED AMERICANS 815 16th Street, NW, 4th Floor ¨ Washington, D.C. 20006 ¨ (202) 637-5399 ¨ www.retiredamericans.org For Immediate Release Contact: David Blank (202) 637-5275 October 3, 2012 dblank@retiredamericans.org Retiree Leader: Debate Showed Stark Contrast Between Two Candidates The following statement was issued by Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, in response to the first presidential debate. “Tonight’s debate showed the stark contrasts between the two candidates on key issues of Social Security and Medicare. “President Obama reaffirmed his strong commitment to Medicare and Social Security, two great American success stories. Mitt Romney, relentlessly mischaracterizing recent improvements to Medicare, advanced his plan to gut traditional Medicare with a voucher-based scheme that gives more power and profits to the big insurance companies. In wanting to repeal new Medicare benefits for seniors, Romney chose ideology over facts: the Affordable Care Act is helping over 5 million seniors pay lower drug prices, and 19 million seniors have already received at least one free preventive test or service. “When discussing Social Security, President Obama stood up for workers and retirees, while Mitt Romney falsely linked Social Security to the federal budget deficit, wanting to make workers and retirees pay the price for a problem they did not cause. The Romney-Ryan plan would cut benefits and raise the retirement age to fund even more unneeded tax breaks for millionaires and corporations. “There has never been an election with such stark contrasts on fundamental issues of social and economic justice. President Obama will keep moving our nation forward, but Mitt Romney would roll back the clock on many decades of progress for Americans of all ages. “The Alliance for Retired Americans, a four-million member grassroots advocacy organization, will continue to educate and mobilize seniors across the country about these core differences.” ### The Alliance for Retired Americans is a national organization that advocates for the rights and well being of over 4 million retirees and their families.

Are You Ready To Be Harvested By Romney?

SOAR Director, Jim Centner, Makes Choice

The Conventions Are Over – the Choice is Clear

Now that the Democratic and Republican Conventions are over, it’s clear that reelecting President Obama is the best path forward for our nation. The tone of the two conventions could not have been different. We can either continue on the path of growth to rebuild our economy from the worst recession since the Great Depression, or we can go back to the policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

It is time to end the partisan bickering in Washington.  Our elected representatives must work together in order for our economy to continue to grow.  We need to move forward and elect those who best represent the interests of the working middle class.  I can remember when the two party system worked.  When the rhetoric of the campaign was over, both parties worked together for a better country and society. 

Today that is not the case. When the Republican leader of the Senate Mitch McConnell (KY) publicly stated that “his single most important goal is for President Obama to be a one term President”, it clearly tells me that he and his party do not have the best interests of the American citizens on their agenda. In my opinion, a statement like that is treason!  He should have been drummed out of the Senate and charged as a traitor. When an elected representative, who is elected to represent all of us and to better our nation as a whole, draws a line in the sand out of pure party loyalty, it demonstrates his inability to be a representative of the people and he has no business being there.

The United Steelworkers and SOAR have endorsed Barack Obama for reelection as President.  This November’s election is an opportunity to elect a President and Congress that can together continue on the path rebuilding an America that meets the needs of all its people, not just a privileged few.

Jim Centner, SOAR Director

We Are Better Off !!!

The question has been asked during the current Presidential campaign, are we better off with President Obama? The facts are clear, if one cares about the facts, then the answer is YES.

When President Obama took office, our economy was going off an economic cliff in a free fall created by big banks, wall street misdeeds and other factors, including failed bad trade agreements that cost us millions of good paying manufacturing jobs, the attack on workers’ rights and their unions, the establishment of more debt on the shoulders of the middle class and the destruction of real estate markets and home values. It was the worst recession since the 1920s and we were on the edge of a great depression. We were losing over 750,000 jobs per month, and had a Federal deficit of several trillion dollars.

These are the conditions that President Obama inherited; created by the policies of eight years of Republican leadership and policies that some think we ought to do over again. These policies include the idea that if the wealthy are taken care of it will trickle down to the rest of us. I think we’ve been trickled on.

The Obama administration, in the face of Republican obstruction, has reversed these horrible conditions that he inherited and has had a consistent record of job growth. I know things are still not good and the working-middle class is still struggling. It will take time to reverse the conditions that took decades to create, but yes, things are better under President Obama and more importantly are heading in the right direction.

As paraphrased by President Clinton the argument by the Republicans for their election is: “yes we left you a mess-you didn’t clean it up fast enough, so elect us.”

We simply can’t take the chance; the policies being pursued by the Republicans are economically dangerous to seniors and the working-middle class. 

Bill Gibbons, PACE Representative for SOAR

Bugs Obama vs. Yosemite Romney

Checks for Millionaires

There's Hope For Millionaires Everywhere

Alliance for Retired Americans Friday Alert 8-31-12

Republican Platform Calls for Sweeping Changes to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid
Delegates to this week’s Republican National Convention approved a party platform calling for sweeping changes to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  Pledging to “save Medicare by modernizing it,” the platform supports vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s plan to push seniors toward vouchers to buy health coverage from private insurance companies.  The platform would also raise the Medicare eligibility age to 67.  Medicaid, which is the only way that 70 percent of seniors can afford long-term and nursing home care, would be cut under the GOP plan, with much of the program turned over to individual states.

Social Security, the platform contends, “is long overdue for major change… to restore trust in the system.” While the actual platform language on Social Security is vague, both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have long supported lowering benefits, raising the retirement age, and moving toward a privatized system tied to the stock market.  Also this week, television commentator Pat Robertson said in an interview that the retirement age should be raised to 72, saying that such an idea “would not hurt anybody because people really like to work.”  To see a video of this interview:http://bit.ly/PuV2E8. “This platform is a raw deal for current and future retirees.  Seniors would take all the risks, while Wall Street and health insurers would get all the rewards,” said Alliance President Barbara J. Easterling.  The Alliance’s web site, www.RetiredAmericans.org, has a number of fact sheets current on the debates over the future of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Romney-Ryan Medicare Proposal Would Shift Costs to Patients
Mitt Romney’s promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act - removing over $700 billion in Medicare savings - would hasten Medicare’s insolvency by eight years and immediately add hundreds of dollars of out-of-pocket expenses to current enrollees, The New York Times recently reported (http://nyti.ms/PBiej0).  The newspaper reported that repeal would raise out-of-pocket costs for seniors by an average of $342 per year.

Mr. Romney’s plan would eliminate several new, popular Medicare services, including free preventive screenings and expanded prescription drug coverage.  While Romney claims that he wants to restore funds to Medicare, his proposals do not increase coverage or care, but instead increase costs through higher payments to hospitals and big insurance companies.  In accepting his party’s vice presidential nomination this week, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said, “the greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we’re going to stop it.”  For a detailed fact-check of Mr. Ryan’s speech, visithttp://yhoo.it/NzE7oh.

“The Romney-Ryan plan would result in higher payments for less care, while shortening Medicare’s projected lifespan,” said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance.  “President Obama’s Affordable Care Act lowers costs, increases access to care for Medicare beneficiaries and extends Medicare’s solvency by eight years.  It is good for seniors.”

Obama Touts Success of Health Reform for Seniors
In his weekly radio address, President Obama announced on August 25 that, because of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, nearly 5.4 million seniors with Medicare have saved over $4.1 billion on prescription drugs, an average of more than $700 per person.  In 2012, Mr. Obama said, 18 million seniors with Medicare have received free preventive care benefits such as mammograms and colonoscopies.  Medicare, the President said, is “a promise this country made to our seniors that says if you put in a lifetime of hard work, you shouldn’t lose your home or your life savings just because you get sick.”

Alliance Mourns Loss of Stu Leibowitz
The Alliance is mourning the recent death of Stu Leibowitz, an AFSCME retiree leader who was President of the Alliance’s New York City chapter.  Leibowitz was a tireless defender of the retiree benefits that public sector workers fought for and earned.  “Stu was a cornerstone of the Alliance’s national and regional conferences, frequently speaking up to educate and inspire his fellow retirees.  He will be sorely missed,” said Edward F. Coyle, the Alliance’s Executive Director.

Commentary: On Labor Day, Educate Younger People About Unions 
As we near Labor Day, I want to encourage you to help younger generations better understand why labor unions are so important.  Too many people either know very little about unions, or only know what politicians and Fox News tell them.

I joined a union on my very first day on the job as a telephone operator in Akron, Ohio.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made.  Our generation – and those who came before us – used our rights at work and in the community to create good jobs and good wages.  We helped build strong neighborhoods where you could raise a family. In my experience, a union is the only way workers can earn good pay and be treated with respect and fairness on the job.  It’s just too tough any other way.  When you look at the powerful interests that workers are up against – whether it is right-wing politicians or cold-hearted corporations – you see how badly the deck is stacked against you if you don’t have a union.

As union retiree, you can speak firsthand how collective bargaining helps earn the wages and benefits that support families and build strong, stable communities.  Collective bargaining directly affects retirement – the better you work, the better you retire.  I worry that decades of low wages, little or no health insurance, and inadequate savings are sowing the seeds for a serious retirement security crisis that will affect everyone in our country.

While some politicians mock unions as a cheap way to score political points, we all know the truth – collective bargaining is a backbone of the American middle class.   We have a lot to be proud of – so let’s get out there and spread the word!  -Barbara J. Easterling

Please share this Labor Day column with others in your community by visiting http://bit.ly/PuVqm5. 


For a printable version of this document, go to bit.ly/N3tLvp.

President Obama: "They Drove Our Economy Into A Ditch"