From The Left Wing Cafe on Facebook:
Important, please read. {RS}
Evan Geraniotis
Important clarifications on the misrepresentation by both the left and the right of the Chained-CPI Obama proposal provided by my friend Nicholas J. Evancik:
[This was aired on the "Federal News Network" a DC Radio station run by government employees about government (but not a part of government)]
- "Chained-CPI is only activated when a retirees total retirement income hits 35,000 dollars. 90 percent of retirees rely totally on Social Security Income for retirement and the top Social Security payment is 34,500 dollars a year and to earn that you must have earned 106,000 dollars a year and so paid the maximum amount in payroll taxes. In essence, the Chained CPI will only be used when a person has earned more than 100,000 dollars a year for their work life and also have additional retirement income such as pensions, on top of the much higher than average work income than 85 percent of working Americans...at the bottom end Obama is raising the current average Social Security Check for those who rely on nothing but Social Security from 17,900 to 20,500...
- Obama's plan also exempts Supplemental Social Security, which is given to low end Social Security recipients from being counted as taxable income.
- As it stands, if you earn 18000 a year in Social Security and get an additional 10,000 in Supplemental Social Security, the amount of the total that exceeds 25,000 a year becomes taxable income...Obama's plan exempts supplemental from being counted as "additional income" and chained CPI is only used when the recipient is collecting the maximum Social Security payment and also earning 10,20,30,000 in "capital gains"on investments, or getting generous executive pensions. When their total income exceeds the maximum Social Security payment, chained CPI is applied to their COLA....if all they live on is a Social Security check or get the average pension, which for the average worker, is no more than 8,000 dollars a year, their COLA would not be chained, but what is currently used.
- Obama has snuck in "means testing" by a back door route and the GOP is furious, because it's basically a "tax the top two percent" approach"
More information from Eva
Evan Geraniotis From the same source: "Another part of Obama's deal requires giving anyone who has been collecting SS for 20 years a flat one time "raise" that i have seen listed as 3500 dollars a year and giving the same to people on Social Security Disability and those at the lower end of Social Security Payments...also, that a minimum benefit that will always be adjusted to be above the Federal Poverty Level...so not only will COLAs be applied, regular adjustments to make sure there is a minimum benefit above the poverty level"
Thursday at 11:10am · Like..
Evan Geraniotis //Obama also calls to raise the rate of the lowest Social Security Check to be "higher" than the official poverty rate, to meet the stated purpose of the law, which states it is designed to make sure the elderly do not live in poverty. Obama is holding Republicans to the "letter" of the law. The law actually states this, but for decades, Congress has simply ignored this and allowed the retirement benefit's lower limits to fall below the official poverty level for the last 35 years. Obama is simply stating, the law states its purpose is to keep the elderly and disabled and veterans out of poverty. I am holding you to the law.//
Thursday at 11:11am · Like..
Evan Geraniotis No wonder Boehner is now back-pedaling on chained-CPI ... LOL ... ":Obama has snuck in "means testing" by a back door route and the GOP is furious, because it's basically a "tax the top two percent" approach"
Thursday at 11:11am · Like · 1..
Evan Geraniotis //Obama is also very much screwing with them with his Medicare cuts...they all hit the rich and corporations, particularly "Big Pharma" the donut hole in Medicare Part D goes away for the cuts he offers. That saves retirees 3,900 dollars a year. (Part D stops paying after you spend 600 dollars and only starts again when your total hits 4500). Obama also cuts extra payments to Medicare Advantage, which is designed to force the elderly into HMOs where they don't get the best care. Medicare HMOs get 3 times the reimbursement as traditional Medicare gives, for providing less service.
Obama agreed to "entitlement reform" but he never gave Republicans the "specifics" of how he would do it. As it stands, his call to assure Social Security Recipients a minimum benefit that exceeds the poverty rate gives the "average recipient" a raise if about 20 percent...but the lowest Medicare checks go to stay at home housewives or low wage workers..the lowest payment is 495 dollars a month...thats less than 6000 dollars a year. Raising it to just above the poverty level is an 11,000 dollar raise.//
Thursday at 11:14am
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