Wouldn’t miss it!

Awesome!

just saw this

sad

GRAPH: Social Security Provides The Majority Of Income For 3/5 Of Americans 65 And Older
http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/07/22/276162/grap… /

As many in Congress are advocating for regressive cuts in the Social Security program, the Economic Policy Institute is releasing a paper titled “A Young Person’s Guide To Social Security.” The paper notes that Social Security provides the majority of income for three-fifths of Americans 65 and older, and illustrates this across different income quintiles with the following graphs:

I mailed $10 for the SS campaign. Sorry. Just can’t afford the $45 this year. Unemployed. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, we appreciate it very much.

Regret that I will have to miss this due to a prior obligation I simply cannot break, but thanks so much for putting it together, Jane and everyone! I look forward to the write-up Monday.

The handout that we gave to members of Congress on our congressional office visits has similar statistics:

http://action.firedoglake.com/safetynet-facts

Just joined online. Thanks Jane and everyone here for all you do.

am i missing something? the obama administration and the democrats in congress have made it abundantly clear they are not listening to constituents unless they are transnational corporations. in particular they don’t care about progressives, unions,seniors, etc. they don’t want votes; they want money. times have changed. writing letters, petitions etc only work when you have a government that is in some way, on some level, responsive to the public. time for new strategies, new tactics. We have a lot to learn from our friends in egypt, greece, spain, england and others suffering under the boot of financial and corporate power. p.s. ditch the moral argument – why assume a morality when none is functioning.

woo hoo ! finally one I can attend

yeah, from reading the paper this a.m. i can see it’s made a big difference

We will miss you Anthony but you will be there in spirit, I’m sure.

;)

Thanks! Look forward to seeing you there. Ryan will make sure you get an invite.

Awesome!

thank you for your TIRELESS efforts…walking those halls must be ehausting

If you are worried that “new tactics” won’t be discussed, the best suggestion I can give is that you attend the meeting and raise them. My impression is that many people will be making those kinds of suggestions, however.

nobody assumes anything anymore

if we go down,we go down fighting

Great Idea – perhaps some focus on an alternative – the Peoples Budget – could be part of the discussion (http://my.firedoglake.com/papau/ – I have a summary post up on the People’s Budget if that is useful).

Looking forward to it!!

Damn that was exhausting. And then I had to go on Ed Shultz at 10:20 that night.

Everyone said “you looked calm.” I was just tired.

I will be there. Thank you all for hanging in these difficult times. Fabrizio you make some good points but I believe it is all necessary. We need to do this AND what you suggest. We are in the middle of a huge transition. These times call for extraordinary efforts. Thank you Jane for your relentless focus on this.

Just got a call from someone who wanted to attend but isn’t a member. We would love to open this one up to everyone, but the software to run it is still brutally expensive, and we’re limited to how many people can attend. We’ll try to get the video up first thing Monday morning so everyone can see it however. Nancy and Eric are important voices in this fight and we want everyone to be able to hear what they have to say.

you always look calm….they cant understand your calm in the face of enormous opposition,and vile treachery which is today the Congressional,media ,Banker,Industrial complex

i used to send candygrams to Krugman,for his immense courage,you deserve that and more

So what did that august commission recommend in 1983? How about the following:

Seven of the 12 members agreed that the remaining one-third of the long-range financial requirements should be met by a deferred, gradual increase in the normal retirement age, while the other 5 members agreed to an increase in the contribution rates in 2010 of slightly less than one-half percent (0.46%) of covered earnings on the employer and the same amount on the employee, with the employee’s share of the increase offset by a refundable income-tax credit (see the statements in Chapter 4 for a presentation of these approaches).

Increase in the retirement age and raise the contribution on EVERY participant.

Now, I am not a member of FDL, but I would sure love to hear Ms. Altman talk about why those should not be on the table now…..

Do you folks still not understand that Obama is going to take the McConnell “clean” bill and all this is just political posturing?? You guys really don’t get that? He’s going to expose these Tea Baggers for what they are for the country to see and then be able to say, “we went for a grand barging, that included the big 3, but the Republicans are fundamentalist that will not budge. Therefore it is with great reluctance, but for the good of our nation, that I accepted Senator McConnell’s offer.” He is playing politics people. He is running for reelection. HELLO.

Are Lawrence O’Donnell and me the only people that understand this?

Hey tmac, someone just called and offered to give you a membership. Ryan will drop you a note about it, and they can identify themselves if they want.

Our readers are just the best.

how dare he trifle with OUR money,let him play old pokerface ,with his own

Excellent, Jane!

i will be doing a diary ,on this vile excuse for a human being/physician

Tom Coburn

After recovering from an occurrence of malignant melanoma, Coburn pursued a medical degree and graduated from the University of Oklahoma Medical School with honors in 1983. He then opened a medical practice in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and served as a deacon in a Southern Baptist Church. Coburn is one of two licensed doctors currently serving in the U.S. Senate. During his career in obstetrics, he has treated over 15,000 patients and delivered 4,000 babies, and was subject to one malpractice lawsuit, which was dismissed without finding Coburn at fault.[5][6] Coburn and his wife are members of First Baptist Church of Muskogee.[7]

In spite of their ideological differences, Coburn is a friend of President Barack Obama. They became friends in 2005 when they both arrived in the Senate at the same time.[8]

You mean his deal may collapse and he may be forced to take the Reid-McConnell deal, even though he sent Jack Lew up to tell the Senate that they had to swallow his Boehner deal.

Not exactly sure how sending cabinet members up to lie to the Senate over an impending crisis so he can advance his political campaign qualifies as a “defense.”

too bad asshat

How about we both agree to be here August 3 and ask each other questions, OK with you??

Hey! How about get together for a “beer”.

Tom Coburn is a nasty piece of work and our corporate media has been shown up again by Al Jazeera news. He must be an Alan Simpson clone, they both have a titty fetish.

too bad, how?

Well, you are the only 2 I know of who understand this.
Please consider the final outcomes of the decisions that have been made-
Start with ACORN’s demise,continue on through opposing the Public Option,
through the Bush tax cuts.. etc. Note the ignoring of all the
polls which show 70% or more disagree with his position. Don’t listen
to the words-we tried that in 2008 already. Fool me once,shame on you.
Fool me twice,shame on me!

Even better!!! I like beer. *g*

I’ll start some diary about something on the 3rd so me and hayduke1 can ask each other questions without interupting other threads.

Whadda ya say, hayduke1??

JUMP FOR JOY…NOW

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439×1547108

Words have consequences. Even if his performance was a sham he should have never, ever even opened the door a crack to the possibility of cutting SS, M or M.

i must go pawn my wedding ring…i would give Bernie a big donation!

Just hit my head on the ceiling!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks, ceiling cat!

:-)))

Exactly … let’s just *see* who’s right!

i hope this rumor is true

Seriously, guys, it could happen. Dave’s piece about the Progressive Caucus making a bolt for it could really happen. Maybe the stars are all aligned…. please,oh,please,oh,please…http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/708

just the hint of another canidate could be enormous help

I don’t speak for FDL or Ms. Altman, but IMO raising the retirement age should not be on any table until we first extend health care as a RIGHT to all citizens, so that the gains in life expectancy seen for the wealthy can be seen for the poor as well.

Until that time, fuck even talking about raising the retirement age.

But if you’re willing to help ensure health care is a RIGHT in this country, like it is in ever other developed country (and is considered a basic human right by the UN), then after that is accomplished and we see life expectancy start to increase for the poorest Americans, then I’ll be help you work toward increasing the retirement age gradually.

Whadda ya say??

all bets are off a 3rd canidate comes in…wanna see debt ceiling raised fast…3rd canidate could run on NO NONSENSE platform

stop holding americans hostage
whammy

Oh man, I’ll go all in for the guy. Damn right, please oh please be true!!!!

Oh man I hope I hope I hope I hope I hope.

Americans collect 39% of their pay in retirement
Europeans more like 60%

Given the unemployment picture and the fact that the economic recovery is sluggish at best the really smart thing to do would be DROP the retirement age to at least 60. Today!

me too…just give us another option dear universe

too smart,too reasonable/

Funny how trolls come out of the woodwork when things get a little hot in the kitchen. heh heh heh

Yep.

Holy shit. Man, oh, man. I heard Bernie on Hartmann last week say he wouldn’t but thanked the lady who suggested he primary Obama for the compliment. We’ll see.

mebbe their pay got lowered again……….g

I feel like dancing! Game for a spin, SD?? :)

all those halls in congress and the White House
would have to call out the janitors to pick up the poop

the shot heard round the world

i think ill send his office a candy gram

if ya wanna do it

go to Russell Stover.com

In 1983 Greenspan did indeed get Reagan to raise the retirement age to 67 and the contribution rate from 5.4% to 6.2% http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/gspan7.html

I am not sure what your point is.

The actuarial data in 1983 supported such action. The actuarial data today, assuming the economy is still under performing, supports ending the wage cap and if necessary a raise in the retirement age as mortality improves the length of the average life span for those hitting age 65.

The CPI decrease is just being mean and spiteful.

How can he ‘primary’ Obama if he’s not a member of the Democratic Party?

Check Democracy Now…calls O a Wall Street democrat = a Republican; debt ceiling a manufactured crisis…etc. Catch it….

Shouldn’t have. More cow turds around than the turd herders know what to do with.

Those recommendations were made 30 years ago. Since then, life expectancy has increased for a baby born in the US has increased by more than 5 years since the report was first issued. So I would say we are pretty well darn down that road and doin well. By the way, the UN says that Internet access is a basic human right for everyone, too, so let’s not hang our colective hats on what they say.

Like Emma Goldman said, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”

My point is that SS was in better shape then and we adhered to those recommendations. Why are they not part of the solution now?

No argument from me.

Gold is up again, CommodityMan.

There was a guest on yesterday talking about this holy grail of MMT and how inflation was not a concern. If it’s not a concern, why does chained CPI matter? What was the COLA last year? Zero. So why does a different CPI measure matter at all?

I called Bernie’s Washington office and that was the first they had heard of it. I walked the guy over here and showed him how excited we were and about that time he had to put me on hold because so many calls were coming in!

Yes, Kaching. $2G profit and the day is not over. I love this non-inflationary environment.

All he has to do is file as running on the Democratic ticket.

Ever heard of speculators in the futures markets? Ever wonder why the price of oil, or any other commodity traded on the futures markets, flucuates?

Just more bullshit, failing to answer my question.

Oh, but thanks for showing you don’t agree health care is a right. Just like all right wingers, they HATE individual rights.

But back to my point, the life expectancy for the poor is still not where it is for the rich because we don’t have health care as a right.

So, since they’re not the same, maybe we could increase the retirement age for the rich to 75 and leave it for the poor at 65??? Not saying I endorse that, just spitballing here, maybe that’s a start to an agreement??

And any man, woman, or child, who is sick or injured, by virtue of being a human being, should receive health care, free or nearly free at point of service, just like public education. And like public education (and all other RIGHTS), it is the responsibility of government to provide those rights.

Speculation, underlying demand and the value of the currency in which it is denominated. Try laying the increasing price of oil or gold over a line showing the declining value of the dollar and tell me what shows you. Until then, stop telling me that inflation is not an issue.

SS is my Father’s and my disabled brother’s primary income. They can’t afford cuts. Its not like they are making 50k a year on SS. Anyone who is in the know understands SS does not pay much money even on the “higher” end of payouts.

If they cut SS, Medicare or Medicaid then Obama MUST be primaried. Selling out the democratic base has to have consequences. We have to be the ones to make sure those consequences happen!

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth OFG?

Nope, yours.

Wish I wouldn’t have edited it out now.

I’m not gonna try to tell you anything. You know it all so I’ll just let you dance down that path to your little heart’s content. xin loi

well, she’s been dead 6 years, so have at it.

You got a problem with this foul-mouthed feminist blog? Get the fuck over it.

and bú tinh ranh các bà mẹ của bạn to you, too

You like talkin’ about other people’s mothers?

Meaning they’ll pay a lot of cheaper-by-the-dozen dollars for the pretty yellow.

Only way to make a profit is by trading paper. Try selling the real thing and getting back what you paid for it.

Thanks. But make sure that you are clear that the “yellow” you are talking about is gold, not the color of anyone’s skin. Don’t want you to be accused of being racist.

im back

and petty robbery is what happening thanks to gold speculators
sometimes the murder of an old lady
like around these parts
USA =crazyland

concern trolling pay extra? just askin

dude, i’m not a troll, and i didnt start the OT thread about gold. But since we are on it, you need to look at what the declining dollar is doing to the price of gold. That’s MOST of the recent impact, not speculation.

I understand, but still, there’s lots of 1 oz. gold coins in individual collections that were bought for hundreds of dollars per coin that will sell today for over $1600.

She’s not a dude.

Oh, yeah, but that’s not what s/he’s talking about.

Or jaundiced.

Or holding her pee.

Surely move2baru is entitled to add his full-mouthed phlegm globs to this foul-mouth feminist blog.

Wow. These trolls are getting uglier, as if that were possible. Good thing we got the best troll patrol in the business here at FDL. Nice work, fellas!

hope the troll is heavily invested in the gold futures,when the bubble bursts

Timing IS *everything.* :-))

its too bad the matoes didnt grow SD,howz about the peppers,you could have a lovely healthy pepper patch…i still have 6 more plants for ya

always…..g

Aitch,can i send ya some matoe plants,gotta garden or a terrace/porch

Three years ago I had a gold crown put on a lower right-side molar for $600, four months ago had one put on a left-side molar for $1300.

Made a great cold quinoa salad last night with diced tomato and red and yellow pepper, cilantro, cold shrimp and a rice wine and olive oil dressing…

It was when I bought 100 oz about a year (and $400/oz) ago.

Oh, that sounds so good! YUMMIES!

Pretty inexpensive, too, it didn’t have much shrimp. Oh, and a little feta cheese.

Sweetie, I have a 6-8 hour full sun wall on my back terrace, a 12″ diameter deep pot with various tomatoes doing their best, but it’s just too hot and not cool enough at night, so they split their skins before getting full-ripe. And they’re so few, that when they get near-ripe and soft enough, some free-ranging beast takes a poke at them. I miss my vast little plot with plenty of surplus for the scavengers.

The loveliest and juiciest big tomatoes at the farmer’s markets come from the Blue Ridge, but they’re only beautiful and juicy, nothing sweet and acidic or tart and sugary, just bland.

So I buy the 14 oz. Campari USA-grown tomatoes b/c they’re redolent of the tomatoes I knew in Pennsylvania.

I would caution about getting too excited about what happens on the Hartmann show. He has been shilling for Obama from the beginning. I blogged on his site over a year and a half ago writing that what he was doing by giving Obama such cover: 1) Confusing the hell out of his Obamabot audience and 2) Helping set the table for the trashing of SS, MC, MA, etc… Well we are there and Hartmann owes the progressive community one HUGE apology. Now, if he backs Bernie (They have Vermont and other connections…)well, I might reconsider his character and integrity.

You have the right to revise and extend your remarks for typos and misstatements.

Sorry, Jane.

Another really good reason to start a new progressive party now:

Rahm Emanuel | Democratic Candidates for US President | 2016 …
… Democratic Presidential Candidates … February of 2010, Emanuel was called out for calling a Democrat … Election Potential. Emanuel is another Democratic candidate …
http://www.2016election.com/rahm-emanuel – Cached

SS was not in better shape then – the Trust Fund was gone and current contributions did not fund current benefits so a tax increase was immediately needed.

The Boomer generation required action – which was the trust fund build up with the higher tax rate and lower benefit via later normal retirement.

There is nothing like that now. Near $3 trillion is “safe” US bonds plus current tax rate carries the program to 2036, at which point it pays 75% of promised benefit. It can not go bust. A small wage cap removal takes it out 50 years – and a mortality adj to the retirement age 50 years from now fixes the rest of the 75 year projection.

The CPI does little that is good except lower benefits by 10% (we only are out of balance by 2.3% on average) and the savings do not come where they are needed in the 75 year projection – not good to screw the starving – the left gets upset.

“a baby born” life expectancy change means nothing – it is the change in the remaining life span of those that reach 65 that is the cost driver.

BTW – the life span increase of the baby began to go backwards in the US last year.

Gold has no intrinsic value – not used much in industry, easily replaced, so it is all psychology.

Gold has gone up on a strong dollar and down with a weak dollar.

Just to clear the uh, cough, cough, air… We baby boomers paid in SS TWICE! We are the only generation to do so. So let’s put a cork in the BS about “the boomers will use up all the money.” That is pure bull shit. Who’s DEFAULTING who?

we are 50th in LE

x2

A dollar is also only psychological for that matter, good faith promises with tenderness. And gold does have intrinsic value, as superior dental crowns, for example, and it’s non-reactive on a wristwatch, as is sterling or platinum, but one should have both colors to properly match one’s ensemble.

The pathetic ‘media’ conflates without clarifying anything. The Boomer generation is perceived to be a very significant factor for Medicare simply for its being the largest cohort. There probably isn’t enough money for it at present rates and projections. Medicare as such has to be adjusted.

Is Bill Moyers a member? We need his voice.

He’s registered, we know that, since he’s posted comments (apart from his featured Book Salon).

I was writing about SS and the Obamabot trolls in here spewing crap about SS. I can redirect you to direct quotes here at FDL if you like.

I did not know that, other than the Book Salon. Thanks

I know, and thanks. SS is a very easy & soft target b/c it’s solvent, successful, and owned by its beneficiaries. SS gets lumped into the debate along with Medicare and Medicaid, which has the effect of making SS seem like an equal problem and fiscal issue. So (I presume), instead of removing SS from the discussion, the half-minded dull-witted lumptards try to rationalize SS as part of the problem. My worry is that Congress and the WH will leave SS alone or barely tweak it as part of a bait-and-switch bone toss, thereby setting the stage for draconian savaging of Medicare, Medicaid, and any hope for universal and single-payer health coverage. Class warfare.

This is for hayduke1 at #25:

No, it’s you guys who don’t get it (you two, or three including the CinC).

Cast your mind back to Michael Jackson dangling his baby over the balcony. This is that.

.

I literally shouted out, “YES!” And clapped so loudly that it woke up my fiance!

He understood tho’ :D

Ended up watching the rest of the segment and is going to try to find a copy of “Super Imperialism.”

Jane, are you still watching this thread? If so -

Will the meeting be recorded in some way so that we may have a look at it later? (I’ve been reading FDL for a few years off and on, but not closely enough to know if you make such things available.)

Please, if at all possible, make it available. There are many of us out here hanging on to any hope we can.

My story:

Whatever happens with these cuts, I am going to be affected. My days are filled with doctor visits and *total fear* Then there are the insomniac sleepless nights watching CSPAN while scanning blogs, news, etc. If I do finally fall asleep, I am back to having PTSD nightmares every night.

During this time, I noticed boards where there are many people in my situation thinking they should just die and even saying they are suicidal. Many have no doubt this is a set up to pick off the disabled, the old and the poor. (Will/could this problem be discussed during your meeting? It seems like there should be some sort of outreach done. At least this should be considered an issue beyond the easy, “Old people are going to be eating cat food.” I see in many places. Over 9M people are on Disability and aren’t all elderly!)

I am youngish with serious problems, but my mother is worse off in many ways and often feels similarly to the people on these boards. Admittedly, even I sometimes feel dying would be easier than this constant fight for dignity, some measly dollars, and health care.

With all that’s going on regarding SS/Medicare/Medicaid, my mother wanted to get more active in the community and called a woman from a lefty elder group she found through an online search. This total stranger, not long into the conversation told my mother she wished she would die because living is too hard, and that it seemed to be what the government wanted anyway. Luckily, the total stranger she told this to was my mother who is trying to get some local services to help. (Brutally hard to do here in AZ and getting worse daily.)

I am living waaaay below poverty level; under 9K a year, am on Disability, have getting my Medicaid cut to look forward to this year, which will cost me at least another $115+ a month, and now have more “cost sharing” with Medicare, so my helping the woman is pretty much out of the question.

In fact, if it weren’t for the person I live with (my fiance – a disabled veteran that gets a bit more money then me), I would have no computer, no internet access, not even a phone, and probably no damned food as AZ is making it really hard to get on and stay on food stamps aka SNAP (Thanks, Big Dog!) through “churning” methods.

Soooooze, that also means I absolutely cannot pay $45 to join FDL, as much as I’d love to support this place and everyone’s hard work :)

/end getting things off my chest

Today, Bernie called for primarying Obama on the Hartmann show.

and am i incorrect in thinking at the 1983 deal basically was a way to use social security funds to cover the Reagan deficit. of course the the social security funds were to amass iou’s from the general fund. we don’t hear much about that these days and in any case, people who have paid into social security all their lives are not “investors” so any deal with us rubes, just like the public service union contracts, should be considered null and void whenever convenient to ditch them. my understanding is that this deal led to the “crisis” in social security. perhaps the former staffers can correct me on this.

why not go down fighting for power instead of peanuts?

Hello. Herbert Hoover II offers the Reps and Wall Street tax cuts and spending cuts; he offers us ambiguity. he ran on ambiguity and good looks in 08. Twice he has put medicare, medicaid and social security on the table in the current carnival even though they have nothing to do whatsoever with the debt or deficit. Was he bluffing all the time, playing with house money (our future)? brilliant. I suppose that’s also why he bought and regurgitated every one of the reps arguments. and the jobs program? Is that a bluff also, or will we be selling apples before it’s over? HELLO.