Technical Fix for Social Security may reduce benefits significantly over the long haul according to this opinion post in The Nation by William Greider. Do you agree? The ugly part of this gimmick is that it punishes most severely the very people who most need help. http://www.thenation.com/blog/164450/technical-fix-social-security-will-shrink-benefits-poor
The 2019 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is set for a 2.8% increase based on the final CPI calculations for 3rd quarter inflation measurement period. This is the largest COLA increase since 2011 when it was 3.6%. Last years increase was 2%. COLA increases are based on the inflation measurement period of the 3rd quarter … Read more
Documentarian Susan Saladoff explores how the media and corporate America manipulated the public into believing the civil justice system is broken. Susan Saladoff explains tort reform and discusses the myth of frivolous lawsuits. She explains that the system works because of jury trials and that attorneys will not represent clients that have frivolous lawsuits. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/wsqtx0/the-colbert-report-susan-saladoff … Read more
Sexual harassment in the military still an issue as many cases go unreported. In a 2010 Defense Department survey, 41 percent of service members – 52 percent of women and 38 percent of men – said that in their work group, people would be able to get away with sexual harassment to some extent even … Read more
Is Small Business the “Job Creators” we keep hearing about in the current economic and political discussion. This NY Times author doesn’t believe so – what’s your opinion? To the extent that size matters at all for job growth, it’s really about new companies that will start small and, if they survive, perhaps grow large. … Read more
“The fact that these women sought sanctuary in the United States — only to find abuse at the hands of officials they thought would protect them — is wholly inconsistent with America’s self-proclaimed reputation as a beacon of human rights,” Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU of Texas http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/10/aclu-sexual-abuse-detainees.html ACLU: The ACLU has released … Read more
The COLA, announced Thursday, Oct. 11, will increase the average Social Security retirement benefit by $39 a month or roughly $468 a year. The average single retired Social Security recipient is expected to receive $1,422 in December 2018 before increasing to $1,461 a month later. The COLA affects household budgets for about 1 in 5 Americans, … Read more
Twenty years ago, when Anita Hill returned home from the contentious Senate hearings during which she accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, people told her not to worry — her name would be forgotten in a matter of months. But two things have become clear this week as she has re-entered the debate: The raw tensions over … Read more
Advocates for older Americans are watching closely to see how the committee’s work might lead to retirement benefit cuts via a higher Social Security retirement age, smaller cost-of-living adjustments or higher Medicare eligibility ages. Meanwhile, a separate starve-the-beast exercise goes mostly unnoticed: a big squeeze on the administrative budget of the Social Security Administration (SSA). … Read more
Children’s Social Security numbers are 51 times more likely to be stolen than an adult’s according to research conducted by identity theft protection service AllClear ID and consulting group Carnegie Mellon Cylab. NEW YORK (MainStreet) — You may have taken adequate steps to ensure your identity doesn’t get stolen, but a report indicates it’s really … Read more