http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027017557Oh my.
The usual
caveat here; if it's decent and civilized people being squeezed, my heart bleeds for them, but if it's Democrats, liberals, and primitives being squeezed, tough shit; they deserve squeezed a lot more than this.
n2doc (38,833 posts) Tue Jul 28, 2015, 08:11 AM
No cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security in 2016?
Lost in the news surrounding the release of the 2015 Social Security Trustees report is the likelihood that Social Security beneficiaries won't see a cost-of-living adjustment increase, or COLA, in 2016. According to the Trustees, Social Security beneficiaries can expect to receive a COLA increase of 0.0 percent. That's right ... a goose egg.
But first, let's review the more-discussed news from the report. While the outlook for Social Security's combined trust funds is slightly improved, the overall trend for program finances is still very negative. The Trustees report a one-year improvement in the estimated exhaustion dates for both Social Security's Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), or retirement, trust fund (from 2034 to 2035), as well as its combined OASI and Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds (from 2033 to 2034). The Trustees again project the disability trust fund will be depleted in the fourth quarter of 2016 — just in time for the general elections.
While most think of Social Security as a single program, the OASI and DI trust funds are legally separate because they are designed to serve different purposes and different populations. This split is of urgent importance for DI beneficiaries, as — absent legislative action to shore up the program's finances — benefits will automatically be cut by almost 20% upon the trust fund's depletion, since by law the program can only pay out in benefits what it receives in revenue.
Returning to the issue of the COLA, as the Trustees point out on page 113 of the report:
"Volatility in oil prices has resulted in substantial volatility in recent cost-of-living adjustments. A large cost-of-living adjustment in December 2008 was followed by no cost-of-living adjustments in December 2009 and December 2010. More recent volatility in oil prices has again affected the CPI. As a result, projections under the intermediate- and high-cost assumptions do not have a cost-of-living adjustment for December 2015."
more
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-cost-of-living-adjustment-for-social-security-in-2016-2015-07-28?dist=beforebell
Who needs chained CPI when the regular one can 'justify' zero increases?
shraby (16,739 posts) Tue Jul 28, 2015, 08:15 AM
1. That figures! Everything we actually use goes up in price, but income?
Not a chance.
Well, shit.
How about
doing something to increase your income?
Everybody else has to; why not you too?
hobbit709 (35,711 posts) Tue Jul 28, 2015, 08:18 AM
2. I'm so happy that the whopping big $14/mo I got this year will have to last 2 years.
tularetom (20,914 posts) Tue Jul 28, 2015, 08:50 AM
4. That's only the first step
Now if they can just find a way to actually reduce benefits...
^^^this primitive, sitting on top of some prime lake-side real-estate out in California, probably could absorb a cut in his benefits.
dixiegrrrrl (41,960 posts) Thu Jul 30, 2015, 12:38 PM
9. Inflation is doing that for them.
50% increase in food prices alone in the last 5 years have effectively reduced budgets.
And if the Medicare premiums go up, that will further "reduce" benefits
And people who work for a living, and pay taxes so as to make social security possible,
don't have to deal with things like that?
Triana (21,069 posts) Tue Jul 28, 2015, 09:24 AM
5. You can bet that Republicans will use every opportunity in election year to GUT DI
They will insist that if it's shored up in any way that it be "paid for" not by increasing the tax slightly, or raising the damn cap above which no one pays the tax, but rather by CUTTING social security.
It's their window to FINALLY START DESTROYING one of the most successful social programs in the US that they've HATED with a passion since its inception.
This is going to HURT a lot of people. Not just those on DI but anyone ever expecting to receive Social Security.
If Democrats (lazy do-nothing DWS herself) don't RUN ON THIS ISSUE and USE it as a battering ram against Republicans, they're NUTS! They simply MUST do so.
mnhtnbb (15,949 posts) Tue Jul 28, 2015, 09:31 AM
6. How about volatility in eggs and milk prices?
Most seniors do very little driving, but they do eat all the time...I hope. I know I do!
And people who work for a living, and pay taxes so as to make social security possible,
don't have to deal with things like that?
But I repeat myself.
nruthie (176 posts) Tue Jul 28, 2015, 10:06 AM
8. I don't much like to eat anyway.
Recursion (40,024 posts) Thu Jul 30, 2015, 12:42 PM
10. The CPI is negative this year
What do you want SSA to do?
^^^good question; should the taxpaying public have to put up with increased inflation just so that social services beneficiaries can get some sort of damned increase?
