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Social Security: Republican Senator Decries Democrats for ‘Scare Tactics’
... which strikes us as rich -- because forcing seniors to rely on private accounts to live through retirement, when you look at the numbers, is the scariest tactic of all. But we digress, so let's go back to the comments of Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), reported in the Cedar Rapids Gazette:
Grassley said the Democrats are losing Iraq as a political issue to recapture a congressional majority and have fallen back to "scare tactics" about Social Security to fuel their campaign.
"I don’t think I agree right now there is a big push by anybody to set up personal accounts" under Social Security, Grassley told Iowa reporters.
Oh, of course not, Senator. Only a conspiracy theorist would look at the new moves by the White House Office of Management and Budget (*.pdf):
The Mid-Session Budget Review released by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today included a proposal that would spend $721 billion – nearly $10 billion more than originally planned in the President’s original Fiscal Year 2007 budget – to turn Social Security into a system of private accounts with lower guaranteed benefits to Americans. The President’s proposal to privatize Social Security includes significant cuts in guaranteed benefits for the vast majority of Social Security recipients through the indexing of initial benefits to prices, rather than wages.
... senior members of the House Ways & Means Committee:
Congress should make Social Security overhaul its top priority next year ... House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Jim McCrery, R-La., said today ... "If we can get [Social Security] done, I think that buys us the political capital to move on to the bigger issues of health care," he said.
... or the President of the United States:
Now is the time for the Congress and the President to work together to reform Medicare and reform Social Security so we can leave behind a solvent balance sheet for our next generation of Americans. ... If we can't get it done this year, I'm going to try next year. And if we can't get it done next year, I'm going to try the year after that, because it is the right thing to do.
... and get any sense that, deep in their hearts, Republicans want to cashier Social Security. Thank you, Senator Grassley, for setting that straight.
Let's make a deal: when Republican leaders quit trying to privatize Social Security -- to sneak it through the back door, as it were -- we'll reevaluate whether it's safe to quit warning America that Republicans want to privatize it. Capisce?
Americans United For Change Web Team | 07.14.06 | | Link to this post
Integrity in Government: Pentagon Axes Sweetheart Deal with Halliburton
... at long last, only a few years -- no sour grapes, mind -- after a sane observer would have cut the company loose [emphasis added]:
The Army is discontinuing a controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq.
The choice comes after several years of attacks from critics who saw the contract as a symbol of politically connected corporations profiteering on the war.
Under the deal, Halliburton had exclusive rights to provide the military with a wide range of work that included keeping soldiers around the world fed, sheltered and in communication with friends and family back home. Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water.
Forgive our pique -- okay, a few sour grapes here, sue us -- but how did Halliburton swindle this contract in the first place? Did no one in the government have an inkling that handing a huge, no-bid defense contract to a company in whose success Vice President Cheney has a massive stake (*.pdf) makes a lousy idea?
Oh, wait: someone did. The Pentagon -- surprise! -- demoted her. Pity, that.
Americans United For Change Web Team | 07.14.06 | | Link to this post
Eliminate the Doughnut Hole Now!!
Join Americans United For Change and our state partners to send Congress a Strong Message:
Eliminate the Doughnut Hole Now!!
Over 6 million Americans enrolled in Part D will fall into this coverage gap. Once the total medication costs have exceeded $2,250, senior citizens and disabled persons must pay for their medicine completely out of pocket, while still paying a monthly premium. Individuals can only escape the doughnut hole if their total drug costs exceed $5,100. Only Congress can fix this misguided and harmful provision.
The embattled prescription drug law known as Part D has been called costly, confusing and corrupt because it was written to benefit drug and insurance companies more than seniors. We are urging Congress and President Bush to fix Part D to provide a drug benefit that is simple, affordable and guaranteed.
Join us for the release of the new study by the Institute for America’s Future which shows that thousands of senior and disabled Americans face dire health consequences as they fall into the Part D ‘Donut Hole’ Trap.
Find an event near you
Will you help put a human face on the Medicare Part D Disaster?
Americans United For Change Web Team | 07.07.06 | | Link to this post
Faithful Montanans for a Living Wage
Americans United For Change and the Progressive Clergy Alliance show their support for Initiative 151 to raise Montana’s minimum wage.The Montana Progressive Clergy Alliance is hosting a rally in the Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, July 13, 2006 at Noon to call on Montana to help Raise Montana by passing I-151, an initiative on the 2006 ballot that would raise the current Montana minimum wage from the current $5.15 an hour by $1 to $6.15 an hour. Lt. Governor John Bollinger will emcee the festivities which will include music and speakers from the faith community across Montana.
Join us on July 13th from noon until 1pm at the Montana Capitol Rotunda in Helena, Montana to show your support for increasing Montana’s minimum wage. To RSVP click here
Americans United For Change Web Team | 07.07.06 | | Link to this post
Hearing to Fix Medicare Part D – Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Americans United For Change has events on key issues -- events designed to educate Americans, and to organize activists all over America -- in the planning stages. As we continue to build and improve this site, information about those events will go live right here. We want this site to be a key resource people who care about the leading issues of the day, so check with us often to learn what events we've planned in your area.
It's our great pleasure to announce, as our lead-off event, a Medicare hearing on July 10. It's a chance for people in New York state to talk about the failed Medicare prescription drug plan -- to learn how this Bush administration scheme failed by design, and to hear what steps we can take to fix it for all Americans.
Can you attend? Then take down this information, and we'll see you there:
- Event: Hearing to Fix Medicare Part D
- Location: Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
- Date: July 10, 2006
- Host: Joy Gould
Americans United For Change Web Team | 06.28.06 | | Link to this post
The 30-Foot Gorilla in the Room
Yesterday, the angry constituents of Congressman Jim McCrery (R- Louisiana) stormed his office in Shreveport demanding that their representative to do his job: represent their interests in Congress. But, he has decided that instead of doing that, he’d rather push the President’s agenda even though his constituents and most of America disagree with it.
McCrery introduced a bill that would privatize Social Security, as President Bush wants. But, that’s not what the people of Louisiana want.
The privatization bill damages our weak Social Security system. We need to ensure that the funds put into Social Security will be used for social security, which the privatization bill doesn’t commit. It also damages the stability of the program, forcing the United States to rely on funds from foreign nations to support our seniors.
Congressman McCrery and President Bush already tried and failed to get a similar bill passed last year. That’s why McCrery’s senior constituents decided to protest at his office. They even brought a 30ft gorilla to symbolize the massive benefit cuts that would occur if the bill ever passed. And, when a 30ft gorilla tells you, ‘Hand’s off my Social Security,’ you better listen.
Americans United For Change Web Team | 06.21.06 | | Link to this post
Expose Denny Hastert—Write a Letter to Your Newspaper
Speaker of the House Denny Hastert (R-Ill.) finds himself embroiled in a growing scandal over a land deal -- proving beyond a doubt that the culture of corruption in the Republican leadership reaches to the very top. But how much attention has this gotten in your community?
You can spread the word; do your part by writing about the latest developments to your local newspaper. Use our site to get started.
If you need some info to help you along, here's the latest on Dirty Denny from the Chicago Tribune:
The complex structure of a real estate transaction in Kendall County last December left House Speaker Dennis Hastert with a seven-figure profit and in prime position to reap further benefits as the exurban region west of Chicago continues its prairie-fire growth boosted by a Hastert-backed federally funded proposed highway.
Instead of cash, Hastert (R-Ill.) took most of his share of the proceeds in land, some of it less than 2 miles from the parcels he and two partners in a land trust sold for nearly $5 million to a developer who plans to build more than 1,500 homes and commercial space on the property near Little Rock and Galena roads in Plano.
Hastert received five-eighths of the proceeds of the sale, which worked out to a profit of more than $1.5 million for him on property that he and his partners accumulated in a little more than three years.
All told, Hastert and his partners in Little Rock Trust No. 225 received property valued at $3.8 million, plus cash, said Dallas Ingemunson, a partner in the trust and Hastert's personal attorney, as well as the Kendall County Republican chairman.
The paper has the full story archived on its site.
Americans United For Change Web Team | 06.20.06 | | Link to this post
Medicare Part D: More Seniors Falling Into the Donut Hole
The "silent crisis" of Medicare 'Part D' continues. Week by week, more senior citizens tumble into the "donut hole," and as they do insurance companies force them to cover the full cost of their essential medications -- whether they can afford the suddenly higher cost or not.
The impact? This could hurt millions:
In coming months, millions of older Americans and people with disabilities will face a lapse in coverage known as the "doughnut hole" once their annual drug spending hits $2,250. At that point, Medicare drug plans stop paying for medications and require members to absorb another $3,600 in out-of-pocket costs before coverage resumes. And even while the plans aren't paying for their drugs, participants must continue to pay their monthly premiums.
Of the 11.8 million Medicare enrollees whose plans include a coverage gap, the Kaiser Family Foundation had estimated that 6.9 million of them could hit the doughnut hole, but a staff researcher said that number probably would be higher because of higher-than-expected enrollment.
Don't wait to fall into the donut hole yourself. Learn what you can do to demand solutions to the Part D crisis today.
Americans United For Change Web Team | 06.20.06 | | Link to this post
Americans United For Change Wiretap Ad
Americans United For Change Web Team | 05.18.06 | | Link to this post
Americans United For Change Father Knows Best Ad
Americans United For Change Web Team | 05.16.06 | | Link to this post