Social Security News 9-6-12

 MSNBC (NAT)

Busting Social Security myths

9-5-12

Dean Baker explains why the Republican Party is attempting to tie Social Security to health care.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-cycle/48916232/#48916232

 

Media Matters (DC)

Fox Attacks People For Collecting The Social Security And Medicare Benefits They Paid For

9-4-12

Fox's Gretchen Carlson and Jonah Goldberg attacked people who receive Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and other benefits, claiming that they are receiving "government handouts." In fact, Americans pay for (or, in the case of retirees, have paid for) such benefits directly out of their paychecks.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/09/04/fox-attacks-people-for-collecting-the-social-se/189727

 

Think Progress (NAT)

North Dakota Senate Candidate Loudly Booed For Promise To Privatize Social Security

Scott Keyes

9-6-12

Rep. Rick Berg (R-ND) defended his plan to privatize Social Security at a Senate debate yesterday, prompting loud and sustained boos from audience members.

During the North Dakota Broadcasters debate in Bismarck, Berg’s opponent in the Senate race, Heidi Heitkamp, attacked the congressman for supporting privatizing Social Security. “When you say ‘I’m going to fix it,’ you’re going to privatize it,” charged Heitkamp. Indeed, as a state representative in 2005, Berg introduced a resolution formally supporting then-President Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/06/806201/rick-berg-social-security/

 

EPI (NAT)

Seniors spend almost three times more on out-of-pocket health costs

Monique Morrissey

9-5-12

Almost all seniors are covered by Medicare and most also have supplemental coverage. Nevertheless, out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditures are higher for seniors than younger households because seniors tend to be in worse health. Though the weak economy and the 2006 Medicare prescription drug benefit have moderated growth in OOP spending, per capita costs are nearly three times higher for seniors than for younger households ($2,849 versus $997).

http://www.epi.org/blog/seniors-out-of-pocket-health-costs/

 

Wall Street Journal (NAT)

Pelosi: Vote Obama to Save Medicare, Social Security

John D. McKinnon

9-5-12

“When you go to the polls, vote for Medicare. Vote for President Barack Obama,” Ms. Pelosi said. “When you go to the polls, vote for Social Security. Vote for President Barack Obama.”

Republicans say the changes they propose in the two programs are simply designed to save them from collapsing in coming years under the weight of their own unfunded promises. At the GOP’s Tampa convention, Republicans said Mr. Obama has abdicated his duty by failing to put forward plans to save the two programs.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/09/05/pelosi-vote-obama-to-save-medicare-social-security/?mod=mw_streaming_stream

 

Politico (DC)

Nancy Pelosi: Medicare, women’s rights at stake

Jake Sherman

9-6-12

“The hard-fought rights of women are on the ballot. Democrats trust the judgment of women. We reject the Republican assault on women’s reproductive health. It’s just plain wrong. When you go the polls, vote for women’s rights. Vote for President Obama.”

It’s a message she has been pushing the past two years in Congress — Pelosi often says Republican plans to reshape Medicare could help deliver the majority to Democrats in the lower chamber.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80795.html

 

Voxxi (NAT)

Social Security checks keeps many seniors from living in poverty

Griselda Nevarez

9-5-12

One out of every three Americans over 65 depends on Social Security checks to stay above the poverty line, according to the newest data of the Face the Facts initiative by the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. It also revealed that without these benefits, the poverty rate among seniors would significantly jump from the current 9 percent to 45 percent.

http://www.voxxi.com/social-security-checks-seniors-poverty/

 

Business Insider (NAT)

Current Law Social Security: "Scheduled" vs "Payable" Benefits

9-5-12

Under current Social Security law future benefits are set by a formula. For a given individual this formula starts from income history but if we take total benefit payouts in the aggregate we have cost totals primarily driven by employment numbers, Real Wage, and CPI. And this aggregate number represents 99% or so of the category that the Report Tables label as "Cost". These projected future benefits are in turn offset by projected income deriving from one main and two minor sources, that is FICA payroll tax, tax on certain benefits, and interest on Trust Fund assets, with the totals being labeled in the Tables as "Income".

http://www.businessinsider.com/current-law-social-security-scheduled-vs-payable-benefits-2012-9

 

Marshfield News Herald (WI)

Column: Social Security offers bilingual support

9-4-12

Hispanic Heritage Month begins Sept. 15, and whether you prefer communicating in English or Spanish, there are some important online services we’d like you to know about. You can find them at www.socialsecurity.gov and at our Spanish site, www.segurosocial.gov. If you are ready to apply for Social Security retirement benefits now, you can do it quickly and easily on your home or office computer. The online application takes as little as 15 minutes. Once you complete the online application and sign it with the click of a mouse, your application is complete. In most cases, there are no documents to submit or additional paperwork to fill out. Online is the easiest way to apply and you can do it in English or Spanish.

http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/article/20120905/MNH04/309050066/Column-Social-Security-offers-bilingual-support

 

Patriot Ledger (MA)

BILL McGARRY, Pembroke: Don’t privatize Social Security

9-6-12

My strong belief is that we should keep Social Security as a government-run program. Why let private enterprise try and take profits from the $2 trillion account?

http://www.patriotledger.com/letters/x1681146633/BILL-McGARRY-Pembroke-Don-t-privatize-Social-Security

 

James Town Sun (ND)

Three debates: Candidates in three N.D. races clash on taxes, oil

Dale Wetzel

9-6-12

Democratic Senate Candidate Heidi Heitkamp upbraided her Republican opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Berg, for what she said was Berg’s support for cutting taxes for wealthy people and turning Social Security into a private pension system. Berg said the Democratic-controlled Senate has been an obstacle to getting the nation’s runaway spending under control and helping to revive the nation’s moribund economy. Berg said several options should be discussed to ensure Social Security’s long-term solvency, and a key element of bolstering the program is to spur economic growth, Berg said.

http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/168623/

 

DL-Online (MI)

Privatizing Social Security is ‘worst idea ever imagined’

Donald A. Johnson

9-6-12

Social Security is the best run investment company in the United States hands down. Anyone who lives long enough will get back all the money they ever contributed through FDIC plus thousands more. When one looks at the track record of private investment companies over the past 10 years the idea of privatizing Social Security is the worst idea ever imagined. With almost $1 trillion going into Social Security every year, the fees and commissions charged by private companies alone, would amount to the largest wealth transfer from the middle class to the richest Americans in the history of the U.S.

http://www.dl-online.com/event/article/id/69795/group/Opinion/

 

Federal Times (NAT)

Social Security qualification age

9-6-12

Q. I am 60, retired from USPS under CSRS. I was told I will receive my Social Security along with my postal pension at age 60. When I reach 62, I then will be dropped from this and can apply for Social Security directly. I have my 40 quarters in Social Security. Is this true?

http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-retirement/2012/09/06/social-security-qualification-age/

 

 

Politics

 

The Nation (NAT)

Exclusive: Paul Ryan Quietly Requested Obamacare Cash

Lee Fang

9-5-12

On December 10, 2010, Ryan penned a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend a grant application for the Kenosha Community Health Center, Inc to develop a new facility in Racine, Wisconsin, an area within Ryan’s district. “The proposed new facility, the Belle City Neighborhood Health Center, will serve both the preventative and comprehensive primary healthcare needs of thousands of new patients of all ages who are currently without healthcare,” Ryan wrote.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/169757/exclusive-paul-ryan-quietly-requested-obamacare-cash

 

New York Times (NAT)

What the Democrats Didn’t Say

David Firestone

9-5-12

But she didn’t mention all those uninsured people. The health care law originally required a vast expansion of Medicaid to cover an additional 17 million poor people, while state exchanges would supply coverage for another 22 million. (The Supreme Court earlier this year allowed states to opt out of the expansion.) Ms. Sebelius, however, never mentioned the word “Medicaid,” and a search of the transcripts suggests that no other convention speaker did, either. Why isn’t the convention podium a good place for Democrats to denounce the Republican governors who have taken advantage of the Supreme Court’s ruling and refused to expand Medicaid in their states? Or who have refused to create insurance exchanges? I may have missed hearing about that subject, but I doubt it came up.

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/what-the-democrats-didnt-say/

 

Talking Points Memo (NAT)

Bill Clinton To Mitt Romney: Barack Obama Is My True Heir

Benjy Sarlin

9-5-12

Mitt Romney has tried to position himself as Clinton’s heir in recent months, employing a false claim that Obama gutted Clinton’s signature welfare reform bill, comparing the two presidents on jobs and claiming he’d follow Clinton’s lead in working with the other party. Clinton made clear that there was only one candidate in the race who embodied his values.“If you want a future of shared prosperity, where the middle class is growing and poverty is declining, where the American dream is alive and well and where the United States maintains its leadership as a force for peace, and justice, and prosperity, in this highly competitive world, you have to vote for Barack Obama,” he said.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/bill-clinton-convention-speech-dnc.php

 

Washington Post (NAT)

Bill Clinton: wonk-in-chief

8-6-12

That said, there are three things worth noting about this Medicaid section. First, it’s a direct attack on Romney and Ryan’s claim that their budget won’t harm any seniors over age 55. As Clinton notes, much of Medicaid’s spending goes to nursing home care for seniors, and there’s no way Romney and Ryan can cut the program by a third without hurting the seniors who account for the plurality of Medicaid’s spending.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/06/bill-clinton-wonk-in-chief/