New Hampshire Alliance Members Greet Sen. McCain
with Protests…
(Alliance for Retired Americans)
March 14, 2008
On the eve of Senator
John McCain's Tuesday visit to Exeter, New Hampshire, the New
Hampshire Alliance for Retired Americans united outside the Concord
Legislative Office Building to protest his plan for Social Security
privatization. Local seniors urged McCain and his Senate colleagues
John Sununu and
Judd Gregg to keep their “hands
off my Social Security.” Participants in the event included
John Mendolusky, President of the
New Hampshire Alliance for Retired Americans, several state legislators,
and members of the groups New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for Action,
Working Families Win, and Americans United for Change. In an interview
appearing in the March 3 edition of The
Wall Street Journal, Sen. McCain said, “As part of Social
Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of
it -- along the lines that President Bush proposed.” The proposal that
Sen. McCain favors is the same George W. Bush privatization plan
rejected by the American people in 2005 for jeopardizing the economic
security of current and future retirees and ravaging guaranteed benefits
for seniors and the disabled. Pictures from a second Alliance event,
last week’s Arizona Social Security protest, are available at
www.retiredamericans.org/ht/d/Gallery/pid/335.
John McCain Restates
Support for Social Security Privatization
(Alliance for Retired Americans)
March 7, 2008
In an interview appearing in the March 3 edition of
The Wall Street Journal, John
McCain restated his support for the privatization of Social Security,
saying, “As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private
savings accounts are a part of it -- along the lines that
President Bush proposed.”
The proposal McCain favors is the same Bush privatization plan rejected
by the American people in 2005 for jeopardizing the economic security of
current and future retirees and ravaging guaranteed benefits for seniors
and the disabled. Without the program, half of all American
seniors would live in poverty. Privatization would mean a 30-50%
cut in benefits, with the average retiree losing $134,000 in payments
over 20 years of retirement. Arizona Alliance members gathered
outside a Phoenix Social Security office this morning to protest Sen.
McCain’s support for privatization, which he has consistently favored
and voted for in 2006. “Don't be fooled, John McCain is, was, and
always will be a privatizer,” said
George J. Kourpias, President of the Alliance for Retired
Americans. “While he fancies himself a maverick, he has long championed
the Bush plan to gamble away Social Security on the roulette wheel of
the stock market. In a Bush-McCain world, seniors' risk would be
Wall Street's reward.”
Bush Budget Harms Seniors
(Alliance for Retired Americans)
February 8, 2008
The following statement was issued today by Judy Cato,
Executive Vice President of the Alliance for Retired Americans,
regarding President Bush’s budget.
Thank you all for coming today, and thank you to Senators Conrad,
Stabenow, and Menendez for bringing attention to the negative impact
President Bush’s budget is having on all Americans.
My name is Judy Cato, and I am Executive Vice President of the Alliance
for Retired Americans.
I am from White Plains, Maryland, and for several decades I managed a
high-rise senior citizens living complex in Suitland, Maryland.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with my organization, the Alliance
brings together over 3.5 million retirees from labor and community-based
groups through a grassroots movement to improve the health care and
economic security of older Americans.
The President’s cuts to Medicare and Medicaid will compound the problems
facing seniors and millions of other Americans struggling to deal with
rising health care costs.
For starters, the President’s Medicare budget includes cuts of $556
billion over ten years, as well as an expansion of means-testing.
President Bush wants to means-test the Part D prescription drug program
the same way that Part B is means-tested.
Means testing undermines the social insurance nature of the Medicare
program, raising costs for seniors who are dependent on it.
Over time, that would lead to more middle-class seniors like myself
paying higher premiums.
The President’s Medicare budget reflects the wrong priorities. He
wants to drain the Medicare Trust Fund at the expense of seniors, while
continuing to offer insurance companies subsidies through the Medicare
Advantage program.
The most effective way for Medicare to save money is to allow the
government to negotiate lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical
companies.
At the same time, President Bush’s budget cuts back the flexibility that
states have to deal with programs like Medicaid.
Under his proposal, states would not have the option to raise the amount
of home equity that can be counted against an individual’s eligibility
for long term care under Medicaid.
The President’s budget also inadequately funds health research conducted
by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Without needed research funding now, we will see delays in promising
treatments and cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
If that’s not scary enough, the President wants to replace all or part
of Social Security’s guaranteed benefits with the risky, unreliable
returns of private investment accounts.
In addition, the President’s budget proposal is $100 million less than
the Social Security Commissioner’s budget request.
Social Security should get at least the funding level requested by the
Commissioner.
Otherwise, Social Security field offices will be forced to close.
That is exactly what happened earlier this month in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
We must keep local Social Security offices open to offer easy access to
seniors who can't travel longer distances or deal with the maze of
automatic phone calls.
The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program has been
severely under-funded as well.
President Bush’s figure is at least $1.1 billion less than the amount
needed to pay for upcoming contract renewals.
And finally, LIHEAP, the low-income home heating assistance program,
continues to be funded at approximately half of its authorized funding
level.
We all know how dangerous excessive heat and cold can be to seniors.
Thank you, everyone, for doing your part to increase public awareness of
these issues.
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