Category: Social Security (Page 3 of 5)
And yet, on the very first day that the new larger House Republican majority got to work, it made a move that could mean some 11 million people who receive Social Security disability benefits will see their lifeline benefits cut by 20% in 2016—or even cuts to Social Security retirement benefits for everyone.
No, Republicans didn’t pass a bill or hold a lengthy debate on something so important. Instead, buried in a package of rule changes, they included a provision that the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) says:
“Would allow a 20% benefit cut for millions of disabled Americans unless there are broader Social Security benefit cuts or tax increases improving the solvency of the combined trust funds.”
Republicans didn’t call it a Social Security cut. They just said they were changing the rules on what is known as reallocation, i.e., the routine transfer of funds between the Social Security retirement trust fund and the disability program.
Congress has approved those transfers 11 times in the past, but now, under the changes Republicans approved Tuesday, any reallocation must also “improve the overall financial health of the combined Social Security Trust Funds.” That, say experts, means either new revenue or benefit cuts.
Isn’t it amazing how Washington works? While the rich get richer, they get tax breaks and Wall Street deregulation? While working families become poorer, they get cuts in pensions that were promised to them.
Congress must start defending the needs of working families, not the billionaire class. ~Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt)
Senate majority leader Harry Reid gave a hell of a speech in Congress about the agenda of the billionaire Koch brothers, carbon barons who are the prime beneficiaries of Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that ruled that corporate persons had the free speech right to engage in unlimited campaign finance spending.
1. The Kochs want to abolish Social Security.
“Documents and interviews unearthed in recent months by Brave New Foundation researchers illustrate a $28.4m Koch business that has manufactured 297 commentaries, 200 reports, 56 studies and six books distorting social security’s effectiveness and purpose.” Read more.
2. The Kochs want to eliminate minimum wage laws.
“According to Charles Koch, the U.S. needs to get rid of the minimum wage, which he counts as a major obstacle to economic growth.” Read more.
3. The Kochs are against extending emergency unemployment benefits.
“It causes employers to face higher taxes, too, which discourages them from hiring new employees.” Read more.
4. The Kochs spent $400 million on misleading attack ads in the last election cycle.
“A labyrinth of tax-exempt groups and limited-liability companies helps mask the sources of the money, much of which went to voter mobilization and television ads attacking President Obama and congressional Democrats, according to tax filings and campaign finance reports.” Read more.
5. The Kochs want to put insurance companies back in charge of your health care.
“In Louisiana, the Koch brother’s Americans for Prosperity was blasted for running anti-Obamacare ads featuring paid actors to play Louisiana residents telling “their” stories about how Obamacare had harmed them.” Read more.
6. The Kochs are against measures that would reduce the gap between the wages women and men earn for the same work.
“IWF-affiliated writers have argued that the gender gap in income exists because of women’s greater demand for flexibility, fewer hours, and less travel in their careers, rather than because of sexism.” Read more.
7. The Kochs want even more tax breaks for themselves.
“They are known for bankrolling conservative, Libertarian and Tea Party causes and became poster boys for corporate tax reform last year when an Obama Administration official suggested Koch is organized as an S Corp. and so pays no corporate level taxes.” Read more.
8. The Kochs made improper payments to win contracts in Africa, India and the Middle East. And they sold millions of dollars of equipment to Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism.
“Internal company records show that Koch Industries used its foreign subsidiary to sidestep a U.S. trade ban barring American companies from selling materials to Iran. Koch-Glitsch offices in Germany and Italy continued selling to Iran until as recently as 2007, the records show.” Read more.
9. The Kochs lobbied against recognition of formaldehyde as a cancer-causing carcinogen because it might be bad for their business.
“A prominent philanthropist, cancer survivor, and American businessman, David Koch, has given millions to the cause of cancer research, while his company—Koch Industries—has lobbied against formal recognition of formaldehyde as a carcinogen, The New Yorker reported in a piece published today.” Read more.
10. The Kochs rank as one of America’s most toxic air polluters.
11.The Kochs have received over $88 million in government subsidies.
12. The Kochs have admitted they have “a radical philosophy.”
“Charles Koch seems to have approached both business and politics with the deliberation of an engineer. ‘To bring about social change,’ he told Doherty, requires ‘a strategy’ that is ‘vertically and horizontally integrated,’ spanning ‘from idea creation to policy development to education to grassroots organizations to lobbying to litigation to political action.’ The project, he admitted, was extremely ambitious. ‘We have a radical philosophy,’ he said.” Read more.
Protesters attend a rally and march demanding Los Angeles Times not...
Protesters attend a rally and march demanding Los Angeles Times not be sold to the Koch Brothers, portraits of which are held, May 23, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. Charles and Bill Koch have... Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
Robert B. Reich: What are they really after? Connect these seven dots. Number one, they’re against extending unemployment benefits to people who have been out of work for more than six months, even though there is still only one job for every three unemployed. Number two, they don’t want to raise the minimum wage, even though today’s federal minimum is twenty-five percent below what it was in 1968, adjusted for inflation. Number three, they’re against extending Medicaid benefits to millions of low wage workers. Number four, they want to cut food stamps. Number five, they refuse to invest in education or job training. Number six, they don’t want to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure or have any other jobs program. And number seven, they’re out to bust unions.
Do you see a pattern here? They’re waging a war against the poor and the working class in order to keep people down because when you’re unemployed, without any support, without any bargaining power, you have to feed your family. You’re desperate. And when you’re desperate, you’ll take whatever they are willing to pay you, even if it’s next to nothing. And you won’t dare make a fuss. You won’t complain about unsafe work conditions or toxic chemicals leaking out of storage tanks or anything else. You won’t run the risk of trying to form a union. You won’t get involved in politics. You won’t make a ruckus or rock the boat in any way. You’ll take whatever they choose to give you because you are sinking.
Make no mistake, this war against the poor and working class is designed to make sure Americans who’ve been losing ground for thirty years don’t dare do anything about it. Without extended unemployment benefits, a declining real minimum wage, no Medicaid, no food stamps, no education, job training, or jobs program and no union, you’ll do exactly as they tell you, and that’s fine with them. But it’s bad for America. As the first step to stopping this war on the poor and working class, call your senator and demand the senate pass extended emergency unemployment benefits.
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