rockin'robin
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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
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
