AFL-CIO To Democrats: We'll Work To End Your Career If You Cut Social Security Or Medicare

WASHINGTON -- With fresh Capitol Hill budget battles on the horizon, the head of the leading labor federation planned to issue a blistering warning to unions' Democratic allies on Monday, saying the AFL-CIO would "never stop working" to end the political careers of Democrats who cut entitlement programs.

"No politician … I don’t care the political party … will get away with cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits. Don’t try it," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, according to prepared remarks for a speech in Las Vegas, Nev.

According to the draft, which was supplied to HuffPost by the AFL-CIO, Trumka stressed his point for Democrats who may be wobbly on the issue.

"This warning goes double for Democrats," he said. "We will never forget. We will never forgive. And we will never stop working to end your career."

The AFL-CIO has long opposed any cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, and the labor federation has suggested in the past that it would consider pulling support from Democrats who help make those cuts happen. But Trumka's remarks on the issue Monday amounted to a far more aggressive threat: That the AFL-CIO would actively use its war chest to unseat Democrats on the other side of the issue.

An AFL-CIO spokesperson clarified for HuffPost that the federation still considers so-called "chained CPI" to be part of the off-limits cuts to which Trumka was referring. A chained CPI inflation index would alter the way cost-of-living adjustments are made for Social Security recipients, slowing increases and reducing the benefits for seniors and the disabled. Many Democrats have shown an openness toward chained CPI, and the measure was included in President Barack Obama's 2014 budget, where it was paired with extra money for the elderly and poor.

Via: Huffington Post

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It Depends on What the Meaning of 'Settled Law' Is by Ann Coulter

No major legislation has ever been passed like Obamacare -- and I'm using the word "passed" pretty loosely. 

It became law without both houses ever voting on the same bill. (Say, is the Constitution considered "settled law"?) Not one Republican voted for it -- and a lot of Democrats immediately wished they hadn't. 

Historically, big laws have been enacted with large, bipartisan majorities. In 1935, President Roosevelt enacted Social Security with a 372-33 vote in the House and 77-6 in the Senate. 

In 1965, Medicare passed in the Senate 70-24 and the House 307-116, with the vast majority of Democrats supporting this Ponzi scheme and Republicans roughly split. 

Reagan's magnificent tax cuts in 1981 -- which Democrats now denounce as if they'd been appalled at the time -- passed with a vote of 89-11 in the Senate and even 323-107 in the hostile Democratic House. 

Even Bill Clinton's signature legislative achievement -- Midnight Basketball for the Homeless -- received more bipartisan support than Obamacare. 

Via: TownHall

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AP Headline Claims Social Security Inflation Increase Will Be 'Among Lowest in Years,' When 2010 and 2011 Had No Increase at All

There was no annual adjustment to Social Security benefits for inflation during 2010 or 2011. That's because the 2009 increase of 5.8 percent (announced in November 2008, and considered the "2009" increase at this table) was artifically lifted by the $4 per gallon gas prices seen in the summer of 2008, the period used in the annual inflation adjustment calculation. After gas prices came down, overall prices levels were slightly lower during the next two years.

With that background, it's hard to imagine how a headline writer at the Associated Press, aka the Adminstration's Press, could transform what writer Stephen Ohlemacher accurately described as an "historically small increase" to "among the lowest in years" — unless it's to create a false impression among those who only read headlines that the government is being unduly stingy in disbursing benefits. Excerpts from Ohlemacher's report follow the jump (bolds are mine):

SOCIAL SECURITY RAISE TO BE AMONG LOWEST IN YEARS

For the second straight year, millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees can expect historically small increases in their benefits come January.

Preliminary figures suggest a benefit increase of roughly 1.5 percent, which would be among the smallest since automatic increases were adopted in 1975, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

Next year's raise will be small because consumer prices, as measured by the government, haven't gone up much in the past year.

... Nearly 58 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security benefits. The average monthly payment is $1,162. A 1.5 percent raise would increase the typical monthly payment by about $17.

The COLA also affects benefits for more than 3 million disabled veterans, about 2.5 million federal retirees and their survivors, and more than 8 million people who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor.

Automatic COLAs were adopted so that benefits for people on fixed incomes would keep up with rising prices. Many seniors, however, complain that the COLA sometimes falls short, leaving them little wiggle room.

Since 1975, annual Social Security raises have averaged 4.1 percent. Only six times have they been less than 2 percent, including this year, when the increase was 1.7 percent. There was no COLA in 2010 or 2011 because inflation was too low.

The final bolded paragraph above is convenient framing. It is also likely that "many seniors" find that the increases are either adequate or not relevant. But the complainers get the ink and bandwidth. And of course, you can forget about AP reminding readers of Social Security's permanent cash-flow deficit or long-term unsustainability.

Ohlemacher's narrative only implies an important truth about 2010 and 2011. Because the 2009 increase was so large and did not get reduced when overall prices went down, beneficiaries on an overall basis received more in benefits than they needed to maintain their standard of living during the next two years.

But to reiterate the main point: Only two years removed from two consecutive years of no increased at the all, the AP story's headline describing the anticipated 2014 as the "lowest in years" is extraordinarily weak.

Via: Newsbusters

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Now It’s Time for Full Throttle Defund of Obamacare

The House plans to pass a bill to raise the debt limit by $117 billion, bringing the new deadline to November 22.  The bill will specifically prohibit the Treasury Department from using extraordinary measures to concoct an arbitrary crisis deadline.

Conservatives can debate the prudence of this particular strategy, but the more important question is what comes after the vote on this bill.  The establishment has been trying to conflate the budget battle with the debt ceiling and transform our priorities into extraneous policy issues that are not nearly as serious and as pressing as Obamacare.

Now they have no excuse to ignore the Obamacare fight.

[Parenthetically, this delay should also preclude any effort to bring up amnesty this year.]

Once the debt ceiling is pushed into November, Republicans must all unite behind full defunding of Obamacare.  No talk about taxes, Social Security, or Medicare.  No talk about a grand bargain or vague fiscal agreements. With premiums skyrocketing, implementation of Obamacare crashing, and massive dependency right around the corner, we don’t have time for other policy fights.  This is the one the public sees most, and this is the one we must message throughout the Democrat shutdown.

Our message is very simple: this law was passed using the budget process to circumvent a higher vote threshold.  Now that the law is proven to be unworkable, it will be uprooted through the budget process.  We are willing to fund every other aspect of government, including those functions we oppose, except for Obamacare and the agencies tasked with enforcing it.

Unfortunately, there are those in the party who are not only distracting us with other issues but are also watering down our messaging on Obamacare.  Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins are committed to making this fight about repealing the medical device tax.  Obviously, the end-point of the negotiations would be a mere delay of that tax.

Via: Red State

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Paul Ryan’s Missing Op-Ed

Congressman Paul Ryan penned an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal forging a path to “ending this stalemate.”  What is amazing about this op-ed is what it fails to mention.  Amidst the garrulous piece on Medicare reform, Social Security, and tax policy, there is not one word about the very impetus for this so-called stalemate – Obamacare.

Ryan rightfully notes that this is “our moment to get a down payment on the debt and boost the economy. But we have to act now.”

There is nothing that affects the debt and economy more than the consummation of a new entitlement into our welfare state.  What better way to jump-start the economy than by pre-empting the worst piece of legislation from taking effect?

This op-ed is a confirmation of our worst fears.  Over the past few days, many in GOP leadership have been privately and publicly shifting the focus of this battle from Obamacare to a grand bargain over tax policy and entitlement reform in the abstract.  This is the road to cave city.  It is simply absurd to suggest that we ignore Obamacare yet fight on other things for a number of reasons:

1)      Social Security has been around since the ‘30s; Medicare has been around since the ‘60s; the tax system has been around for decades.  We’re not getting rid of any of this any time soon.  We are left with just a few ideas to tweak these programs.  That opportunity is not going away any time soon. Obamacare, on the other hand, is just taking root now.  Why would we ignore the most imminent threat for a long-term policy problem?

2)      Social Security and Medicare are very popular, and people are leery of any changes, even ones that we think are positive.  So we are going to ditch the fight over Obamacare, which is extremely unpopular, to fight for Medicare reform?  Really, Paul Ryan?  And they think we are politically stupid?

3)      How in the world are we going to implement Medicare premium support on top of a healthcare system built on Obamacare?  If you are a Republican who believes the fight against Obamacare is lost, which is presumably the view of Paul Ryan, then stop deluding yourself into thinking we will implement Medicare reform.

Via: Red State

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Kentucky Marketplace: ‘WARNING: No Explicit or Implicit Expectation of Privacy’

The Kentucky Obamacare marketplace has no “expectation of privacy,” warning its prospective customers that their information can be monitored and shared with government bureaucrats.

When clicking “let’s get started” on the state-run health insurance marketplace “kynect,” the user is quickly prompted to a “WARNING NOTICE.”

“This is a government computer system and is the property of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” it states. “It is for authorized use only regardless of time of day, location or method of access. “

“Users (authorized or unauthorized) have no explicit or implicit expectation of privacy,” the disclaimer reads. “Any or all uses of this system and all files on the system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized state government and law enforcement personnel, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign.”

Such information includes Social Security numbers. When calling kynect to enroll in the marketplace a person is told to have their Social Security card, immigration status, pay stubs, alimony payments, student loan information, and current health insurance information at the ready.

The kynect disclaimer says users information can be shared at the will of state government agencies.

“By using this system,” the warning states, “the user consents to such at the discretion of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

Via: WFB

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