Obama endorses $250 payments to seniors
Here is a first for you. The news came out today that there would be no cost of living adjustment in Social Security payments next year. Using a formula I can’t even begin to understand, the Labor Department has determined that the cost of living has actually went down (I am still trying to figure that out), therefore no increases are slated. For the record, this is the first time this has happened since the inception of automatic adjustments in 1975.
On Wednesday, President Obama asked Congress to approve a one-time payment of $250 to anyone who receives Social Security
benefits, namely over 50 million senior citizens. The total cost of the payments would total $13 billion and would match the payments sent out earlier this year as part of the massive economic stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama.
I know I run the risk of sounding like I am just hitting on President Obama and every decision he makes, but this does not lay totally at his feet. Congress has several pieces of legislation now circulating that would do basically what the President wants. Republican leaders have also came out in favor of the payments, although they differ on how they should be financed. They insist the budget deficit should not be increased to make the payments and the President has insisted that the money not come from the Social Security trust fund. So far, no one has came up with a good alternative.
Let me state right now that I do not hate senior citizens and I have no desire to see them suffer financial hardship. Having said that, I see no reason to hand out another $13 billion, especially when neither Congress nor the President has a clue where the money will come from. I realize that many people in this country are having a very difficult time and I have ill will towards none, but do we not have to draw the line somewhere? NPR was discussing the subject this evening on All Things Considered and they wondered if the payments could be considered a second stimulus package and if they would benefit senior citizens financially and the President politically.
I suppose it could be argued that a stimulative effect could result if another $13 billion is handed out to some American citizens, but that effect would be hard to gauge. Proof of that difficulty would be in the mixed results we have seen from the first economic stimulus package. Most of the talk about these payments is centered around how it will help senior citizens and how they deserve more help in these hard economic times. I have no quarrel with that, but there is more to this story.
How big is the budget deficit now? I think the last count I saw was $11.9 trillion. Yes, I realize $13 billion is just a very small drop in the bucket compared to federal debt, but do we not have to start somewhere? I think it is a fair question to ask; where is the money for these payments going to come from? The American citizen should be given a straight answer to that question before our government hands out more money they do not have.
This just seems to me to be a public relations move, once it was announced that the cost of living went down and that seniors were not going to get an increase in Social Security the president saw an opportunity to gain political points with the one group of people who can be counted on to turn out at the voting booths in large numbers.
Sure $250 doesn’t seem like allot but you look at the overall cost it is staggering, as you said we have to draw the line somewhere. We cannot continue to spend money that we don’t have, this may seem cold hearted but it is a reality.
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Yes this strikes me as a very bad idea and a cheap political trick. I expect Obama was actually hoping Republicans would vote against this, as they have against everything else Obama suggests, so Dems could then use it for political advantage. Now maybe everybody can go to a neutral corner and understand that we need to stop printing money every time someone has a whim. Of course, I hate senior citizens so take what I say with a grain of salt….and please don’t tell my mother.
I’ll cash the check when it comes, but would like to see it come from the unused stimulus money. This will not buy my support for Obamacare—he couldn’t buy that for $25,000, get above that and I may consider,ha! COLA is based on cost of living, and I must tell you that things are costing me more with each passing day. Everytime I go to the grocery store the prices are higher and yet my income stays the say. I don’t know how they figure COLA’s, they may need to look at that.
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If you include the price of gas in the consumer price index, it would be very easy to make it look like the cost of living actually decreased. Gas is cheaper than last year. Nothing else is though.
There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics.
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Wonder how many “NO Bama” bumper stickers I can have printed for $250 ? I’m calling my printer tomorrow to check.
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My first thought was, “I’m being bought.” I am one of those who will receive the check (and return it to sender with a note on it).
This makes absolutely no sense if you think of it like this. Inflation didn’t occur so no pay raise, right? So our government will hand out 13Billion in aid which amounts to approximately 2.0% aid to each senior/disabled person. That is just about what we would have gotten as a raise! Usually, it is around 2-3%. So why go through all of this just to give the raise anyway?
Because Obama wants to be our Sugar Daddy. When we are struggling, he has the checkbook!
Well, this girl is sending it back with a note: “Enough of the bailouts, paybacks and blackmail already!”
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Well, I am also one who would receive that check (SSDI) along with my daughter who is on SSI. Everytime I turn around, there is an increase in our costs: medications, premiums, what is not covered that I have to pay for…that 2% increase in the form of a $250 check will help me in these tough economic times.
For most who are unemployed, there’s UI or welfare+medicaid+food stamps+WIC+day care subsidies. As one on disability, I don’t get any of that help, not even food stamps. The federal government says I can’t spend all her money on household expenses and yet the state says “its household income, we count it as such.” I don’t qualify for state help, like food stamps, because of this rule. I have other children to support with no money attached to them (like child support) so any help from the government in tough times is appreciated.
I am sooo sick and tired of every move made by the President to be strictly politically motivated. Look what happened with the school speech…a big hoopla over nothing brought on by right-wing and media build-up. Take this for what it is, he cares about those who are not heard, stomped on, stereotyped and considered by some as not worth worrying about. I have a voice, an intellect, a concern for others and wish others had these things too.
Sherri G,
Thanks so much for stopping by Political Realities and voicing your comment and your concerns.
I agree that the school speech was a big uproar over nothing. I am a conservative and I consider myself to be right-wing, but if you will look back at some of my previous articles, I was very adamant that there was nothing wrong with President Obama talking to our school children.
As for the $250 checks the President is planning to send out, I do feel they are politically motivated, at least a little. My main concern is where the money for the checks is going to come from.
Sheri – I, too, am one of those who receive SSI. I totally understand where you are at. I raised my now 25 year old daughter on 1,300 a month with very little help. I get that every little bit helps.
The problem here isn’t the $250 check to you who obviously need the extra help. It is what it will cost all of us – you included – down the road. 13 billion dollars has to be made up somewhere. It will be in the form of taxes. And not just federal/state taxes which you and I are exempt from. There will be the trickle down effect where EVERY thing will be taxed.
This quick fix doesn’t help in the long run. There are other options that would be more beneficial for all of us such as reducing the tax load on small business, balancing the budget, putting aside 10% of what comes in to help people like you, cutting out BILLIONS of dollars of waste in our government, etc.
Please don’t hear us saying you don’t need or deserve help. All we are saying is the government isn’t the answer because what they give you (or I) is never FREE. We have a saying in the military. You get what you paid for – nothing.
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