$250 Check to Seniors Yields Wide Criticism

rockin'robin · 10-19-2009, 11:51 PM

WASHINGTON (Oct. 19) – The White House calls it an "economic recovery payment" to Social Security recipients. But others across the political spectrum see it as a bribe to pacify seniors angry over health care reform.

The proposed $250 payment to seniors was announced just as news broke last week that more than 50 million seniors on Social Security will not be getting a cost-of-living adjustment in 2010. That hasn't happened since Congress adopted automatic COLAs in 1975, when rising inflation ate away at fixed income. Unlike workers' paychecks, though, Social Security payments cannot by law go down even when consumer prices fall as they did this year.

"Why does it make sense to give $250 to seniors who have a guaranteed stream of income rather than to someone who is unemployed?" asked Diane Lim Rogers, chief economist for the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates for fiscal responsibility. "There's no justification."

The payment, which represents a 2 percent bump on average, would follow a 5.8 percent boost in January 2009, the largest increase since 1982. It also would come at a time when low inflation means seniors won't have to pay more for Medicare Part B premiums, although prescription drug premiums will rise.

President Barack Obama said the payment, which also would go to veterans and the disabled, is meant to help seniors who "have seen their retirement accounts and home values decline as a result of this economic crisis."

It would be the second "one-time" payment to seniors by the Obama administration. In May, seniors received $250 as part of the government's economic recovery program.

This time, though, the push to boost Social Security benefits is drawing bipartisan barbs.

"The Great Panderer strikes again," Rudolph Penner, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office and a conservative Republican now at the Urban Institute, wrote in The Washington Post. "It is outrageous to give seniors 'emergency' aid when so many in our society suffered far more during the recession than the lack of a cost-of-living adjustment."

Conservative talk show host Mark Williams said the checks are meant as "a blatant payoff" to seniors who oppose Obama's health care reform plans and smack of Chicago-style politics. "They think people will sell their votes for $250," he said of Democrats.

Not that everyone on Obama's side of the aisle is enthusiastic.

The plan "is a great example of how politics undermines common sense," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the progressive National Research Center for Women and Families. She said the $13 billion plan will not only add to the federal deficit but will give a bonus to "aging millionaires and billionaires" as well as needy seniors.

Kathy Ruffing of the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said in an interview that her research group is "certainly sympathetic to it as a stimulus measure." But the headline on her report on the center's Web site was lukewarm, calling the case for a COLA "weak."

Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen said the president was moved to act by fears that the most consistent and powerful voting bloc in America -- those over 65 -- was also the most unhappy with his health care proposals

"This is politics, not stimulus," said Schoen.

He noted that the announcement came as Congress hammers out a health care bill that could trim Medicare for seniors to fund coverage for younger people. "It was a politically propitious time" to offer the money, given that Congress may not vote on the benefit until next year at the earliest, he said.

"Politicians have always felt they had to respond to seniors more than any other demographic group because they're the most reliable voters," said the Concord Coalition's Rogers. "That’s why Congress feels it had to keep offering up these little consolation prizes and throwing whatever they can back at seniors to appease them so they won't oppose health care reform."

Mary Liz Burns of AARP says the payment is fair because workers have gotten stimulus tax credits and unemployment benefits have been extended for those who've lost their jobs.

"We reject any notion that our members or people on Social Security can be bought off for $250," she said. "We get thousands of calls every day.

Members are saying they need relief. They know this is a tough economy for everyone."

Jim Martin of the 60 Plus Association, which bills itself as a conservative alternative to AARP, said the checks are "an insult to seniors. It's bribery.

The White House knows that seniors are madder than heck about the looming cuts in Medicare" to help pay for health care reform.

So would his members, who jammed town hall meetings this summer to protest health care reform and what they say will be its impact on the deficit and taxes, send the money back?

"Of course not," he said. "I tell them, take the $250 and when you get it, cash it and spend it."

Obama's Plan to Send $250 Checks to Senior Yields Wide Criticism

Kai Onca · 10-20-2009, 12:00 AM

I foresee more crimes against seniors...

jillio · 10-20-2009, 10:33 AM

How so, Kai Onca?

Cowpuppy · 10-21-2009, 09:35 AM

I don't hink there has been a rise in the cost of living....things have stagnated. People don't getthier cost ofliving raisethey think they are being ripped off....but if the economy halts...cost ofliving remains equal.
We expect common sense from gov. As for the $250.....another matter.

netrox · 10-21-2009, 11:43 AM

Last year, seniors were particularly hit hard by astronmical high costs of energy and next year, they should be able to pay off what they owe. Also, what they neglected to mention is that Medicare D will cost more while A and B stay the same.

sallylou · 10-21-2009, 12:20 PM

Social Security COLA is based on the CPI-W. The Bureau of Labor statistics cooks up this number. You can find info on the CPI-W here:

Consumer Price Index Summary

Poverty rates among the elderly have risen slightly, while the rate of poverty among children has skyrocketed. Poverty rates vary by race and gender as well.

This is interesting info:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf#fig04

(at p.45 and subsequent pages)

Is the government paying any attention to these stats in setting policy? Or does the government throw a little money here and a little money there to keep various people happy?

whatdidyousay! · 10-21-2009, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowpuppy

I don't hink there has been a rise in the cost of living....things have stagnated. People don't getthier cost ofliving raisethey think they are being ripped off....but if the economy halts...cost ofliving remains equal.
We expect common sense from gov. As for the $250.....another matter.

cowpuppy have you been living under a rock for the past year! I use to pay 99 cent for a pound of oranges , now one orange cost almost one dollar! Not only has the prices gone up the size of packages of food and bottles have gotten smaller! More people are going food pantry to get free food! Food pantries are running out of food in my state!

souggy · 10-21-2009, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatdidyousay!

cowpuppy have you been living under a rock for the past year! I use to pay 99 cent for a pound of oranges , now one orange cost almost one dollar! Not only has the prices gone up the size of packages of food and bottles have gotten smaller! More people are going food pantry to get free food! Food pantries are running out of food in my state!

Geez... it's still a dollar a pound for Californian and Floridian oranges up here...

rockin'robin · 10-21-2009, 11:44 PM

Bread, veggies and food here in Jax....the food lines get longer and longer! Many, many seniors, veterans, etc. are in those lines....Even I, have problems with some meds that are prescribed for me, too expensive, even after my insurance has paid the bulk of it.

A very dear friend has 2 acres, filled with orange, grape, lemon trees and veggies. I'll be helping pick these and give to the food bank. And for those seniors who are able to stand up for 2 hours, can volunteer at the food banks and get their choices of food...it helps!

Maria · 10-21-2009, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockin'robin

Bread, veggies and food here in Jax....the food lines get longer and longer! Many, many seniors, veterans, etc. are in those lines....Even I, have problems with some meds that are prescribed for me, too expensive, even after my insurance has paid the bulk of it.

A very dear friend has 2 acres, filled with orange, grape, lemon trees and veggies. I'll be helping pick these and give to the food bank. And for those seniors who are able to stand up for 2 hours, can volunteer at the food banks and get their choices of food...it helps!

Lucky seniors!! Aww

jillio · 10-22-2009, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souggy

Geez... it's still a dollar a pound for Californian and Floridian oranges up here...

I purchased Navel Oranges just last week. The price was 3 for a dollar. Earlier in the year, I bought a 4 lb box of tangerines that was 7.00.

souggy · 10-22-2009, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jillio

I purchased Navel Oranges just last week. The price was 3 for a dollar. Earlier in the year, I bought a 4 lb box of tangerines that was 7.00.

Yeah... it's $5 for a 10lbs bag. I buy one every week.

Got B.C.-grown mandarin oranges for $5 a 5lbs box though.

Cowpuppy · 10-22-2009, 08:49 PM

Food prices startedgoingcrazy about three years ago.......and holdingmore steady now...even thru the recessikon....prices jacked up before reccession.....it was beforegas priceswentcrazy...but gas prices upped itmore.....but relatively holding steady since then....since crazy gas of august 2008.
Oranges have a way of being affected by weather more than some crops. And yes florida did have a deep freeze last year.
Smaller packeaging offoods....man I hate that. These people have no decency as humans. Packaging has to get largerto draw budget minded folk. People have been stupidand show-offey 15 years....it will take a while but markets change to refelct shoppers....they are getting back 'down to earth' and it's about damn time.
Hey...I was on ssi long time...quit two years ago....I know how it is....I also know that purchasing power is way better now than the many years it kept getting worse. things are holding steady in comparison ...no doubt about it.
That foodmarketing started a while back with the wmaller packaging when money was flying around everywhere....it takes a while to change.
But COLA standard...they got abig bump last eyar..tocatch them up...I know how it works. It's never really enough...tough life. But relatively speaking purchasing power is stable at least.

sallylou · 10-22-2009, 09:25 PM

Milk has gotten really cheap. The grocery stores here are in heavy competition and that drives prices down. One store sent me coupons and I saved $44 (including some free stuff like frozen fruit). Costco has dropped prices on some items. Now you can get a roasted chicken for $4.99. What has really gone up is toilet paper!

souggy · 10-22-2009, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sallylou

What has really gone up is toilet paper!

Deforestation is a conspiracy of the lumber industry!

\What a sad day it will be when we run out of trees-- no more toilet paper.

rockin'robin · 10-22-2009, 11:44 PM

Guess we'll be going back to the old days...and using "corn cobs"!...That's right!....Sears & Roebuck catalogs and corn cobs were used in the outdoor toilets, believe it or not.

LuciaDisturbed · 10-26-2009, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souggy

Deforestation is a conspiracy of the lumber industry!

\What a sad day it will be when we run out of trees-- no more toilet paper.

We won't run out of trees. Ever heard of seeds? Duh!

LuciaDisturbed · 10-26-2009, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sallylou

Milk has gotten really cheap. The grocery stores here are in heavy competition and that drives prices down. One store sent me coupons and I saved $44 (including some free stuff like frozen fruit). Costco has dropped prices on some items. Now you can get a roasted chicken for $4.99. What has really gone up is toilet paper!

I've noticed. I am NOT happy because I use a large amount of toilet paper. I have to buy 4 packs of 6 rolls in each packs every week.

And I can't drink regular milk, I am lactose intolerant and I get the runs, so the Lactaid milk are hitting me in the wallet too. I used to buy three cartons a week for cereal and cooking, but now I only buy one carton a week because they are so expensive.

Thank goodness for my food stamps, I am so damn grateful for them, since I can't work thanks to my hip dyplasia and my injured discs in my lower back. I really want to be back in the workforce but the dumb docs don't want to do anything to fix me first. I need a hip replacement and my back discs fixed (fusion or whatever it may be) first and then PT and once that's all over I'm getting back into the workforce.

souggy · 10-26-2009, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuciaDisturbed

We won't run out of trees. Ever heard of seeds? Duh!

Ever heard of sarcasm? Duh!

10-19-2009, 11:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
rockin'robin Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 2,787	$250 Check to Seniors Yields Wide Criticism WASHINGTON (Oct. 19) – The White House calls it an "economic recovery payment" to Social Security recipients. But others across the political spectrum see it as a bribe to pacify seniors angry over health care reform. The proposed $250 payment to seniors was announced just as news broke last week that more than 50 million seniors on Social Security will not be getting a cost-of-living adjustment in 2010. That hasn't happened since Congress adopted automatic COLAs in 1975, when rising inflation ate away at fixed income. Unlike workers' paychecks, though, Social Security payments cannot by law go down even when consumer prices fall as they did this year. "Why does it make sense to give $250 to seniors who have a guaranteed stream of income rather than to someone who is unemployed?" asked Diane Lim Rogers, chief economist for the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates for fiscal responsibility. "There's no justification." The payment, which represents a 2 percent bump on average, would follow a 5.8 percent boost in January 2009, the largest increase since 1982. It also would come at a time when low inflation means seniors won't have to pay more for Medicare Part B premiums, although prescription drug premiums will rise. President Barack Obama said the payment, which also would go to veterans and the disabled, is meant to help seniors who "have seen their retirement accounts and home values decline as a result of this economic crisis." It would be the second "one-time" payment to seniors by the Obama administration. In May, seniors received $250 as part of the government's economic recovery program. This time, though, the push to boost Social Security benefits is drawing bipartisan barbs. "The Great Panderer strikes again," Rudolph Penner, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office and a conservative Republican now at the Urban Institute, wrote in The Washington Post. "It is outrageous to give seniors 'emergency' aid when so many in our society suffered far more during the recession than the lack of a cost-of-living adjustment." Conservative talk show host Mark Williams said the checks are meant as "a blatant payoff" to seniors who oppose Obama's health care reform plans and smack of Chicago-style politics. "They think people will sell their votes for $250," he said of Democrats. Not that everyone on Obama's side of the aisle is enthusiastic. The plan "is a great example of how politics undermines common sense," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the progressive National Research Center for Women and Families. She said the $13 billion plan will not only add to the federal deficit but will give a bonus to "aging millionaires and billionaires" as well as needy seniors. Kathy Ruffing of the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said in an interview that her research group is "certainly sympathetic to it as a stimulus measure." But the headline on her report on the center's Web site was lukewarm, calling the case for a COLA "weak." Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen said the president was moved to act by fears that the most consistent and powerful voting bloc in America -- those over 65 -- was also the most unhappy with his health care proposals "This is politics, not stimulus," said Schoen. He noted that the announcement came as Congress hammers out a health care bill that could trim Medicare for seniors to fund coverage for younger people. "It was a politically propitious time" to offer the money, given that Congress may not vote on the benefit until next year at the earliest, he said. "Politicians have always felt they had to respond to seniors more than any other demographic group because they're the most reliable voters," said the Concord Coalition's Rogers. "That’s why Congress feels it had to keep offering up these little consolation prizes and throwing whatever they can back at seniors to appease them so they won't oppose health care reform." Mary Liz Burns of AARP says the payment is fair because workers have gotten stimulus tax credits and unemployment benefits have been extended for those who've lost their jobs. "We reject any notion that our members or people on Social Security can be bought off for $250," she said. "We get thousands of calls every day. Members are saying they need relief. They know this is a tough economy for everyone." Jim Martin of the 60 Plus Association, which bills itself as a conservative alternative to AARP, said the checks are "an insult to seniors. It's bribery. The White House knows that seniors are madder than heck about the looming cuts in Medicare" to help pay for health care reform. So would his members, who jammed town hall meetings this summer to protest health care reform and what they say will be its impact on the deficit and taxes, send the money back? "Of course not," he said. "I tell them, take the $250 and when you get it, cash it and spend it." Obama's Plan to Send $250 Checks to Senior Yields Wide Criticism

10-21-2009, 12:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
sallylou Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: My own private Idaho Posts: 2,098	Social Security COLA is based on the CPI-W. The Bureau of Labor statistics cooks up this number. You can find info on the CPI-W here: Consumer Price Index Summary Poverty rates among the elderly have risen slightly, while the rate of poverty among children has skyrocketed. Poverty rates vary by race and gender as well. This is interesting info: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf#fig04 (at p.45 and subsequent pages) Is the government paying any attention to these stats in setting policy? Or does the government throw a little money here and a little money there to keep various people happy? __________________ Happy holidays!

10-22-2009, 09:25 PM	#14 (permalink)
sallylou Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: My own private Idaho Posts: 2,098	Milk has gotten really cheap. The grocery stores here are in heavy competition and that drives prices down. One store sent me coupons and I saved $44 (including some free stuff like frozen fruit). Costco has dropped prices on some items. Now you can get a roasted chicken for $4.99. What has really gone up is toilet paper! __________________ Happy holidays!

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10-20-2009, 12:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
Kai Onca Save the RAINFOREST Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Wandering through the Mist of Time Posts: 971	I foresee more crimes against seniors...

10-20-2009, 10:33 AM	#3 (permalink)
jillio Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 32,396	How so, Kai Onca?

10-21-2009, 09:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
Cowpuppy Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: On The Road Again Posts: 618	I don't hink there has been a rise in the cost of living....things have stagnated. People don't getthier cost ofliving raisethey think they are being ripped off....but if the economy halts...cost ofliving remains equal. We expect common sense from gov. As for the $250.....another matter.

10-21-2009, 11:43 AM	#5 (permalink)
netrox Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,993	Last year, seniors were particularly hit hard by astronmical high costs of energy and next year, they should be able to pay off what they owe. Also, what they neglected to mention is that Medicare D will cost more while A and B stay the same.

10-21-2009, 11:44 PM	#9 (permalink)
rockin'robin Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 2,787	Bread, veggies and food here in Jax....the food lines get longer and longer! Many, many seniors, veterans, etc. are in those lines....Even I, have problems with some meds that are prescribed for me, too expensive, even after my insurance has paid the bulk of it. A very dear friend has 2 acres, filled with orange, grape, lemon trees and veggies. I'll be helping pick these and give to the food bank. And for those seniors who are able to stand up for 2 hours, can volunteer at the food banks and get their choices of food...it helps!

10-22-2009, 08:49 PM	#13 (permalink)
Cowpuppy Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: On The Road Again Posts: 618	Food prices startedgoingcrazy about three years ago.......and holdingmore steady now...even thru the recessikon....prices jacked up before reccession.....it was beforegas priceswentcrazy...but gas prices upped itmore.....but relatively holding steady since then....since crazy gas of august 2008. Oranges have a way of being affected by weather more than some crops. And yes florida did have a deep freeze last year. Smaller packeaging offoods....man I hate that. These people have no decency as humans. Packaging has to get largerto draw budget minded folk. People have been stupidand show-offey 15 years....it will take a while but markets change to refelct shoppers....they are getting back 'down to earth' and it's about damn time. Hey...I was on ssi long time...quit two years ago....I know how it is....I also know that purchasing power is way better now than the many years it kept getting worse. things are holding steady in comparison ...no doubt about it. That foodmarketing started a while back with the wmaller packaging when money was flying around everywhere....it takes a while to change. But COLA standard...they got abig bump last eyar..tocatch them up...I know how it works. It's never really enough...tough life. But relatively speaking purchasing power is stable at least.

10-22-2009, 11:44 PM	#16 (permalink)
rockin'robin Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 2,787	Guess we'll be going back to the old days...and using "corn cobs"!...That's right!....Sears & Roebuck catalogs and corn cobs were used in the outdoor toilets, believe it or not.