I think I am the canary in the mine.

[Raven]

I am 65 and recently enrolled in Medicare and Social Security. I am a life-long Democrat who has voted in every election since 1968. I have been a political activist for years...working, voting and contributing. If President Obama and the Democrats agree to any changes to Social Security or Medicare that affect struggling middle class Americans such as this shell game called the Chained CPI, I will sit the next election out. I will not vote for, I will not contribute to, I will not work for this President. For many of us in our 60's and older, our financial future is carefully calibrated and our incomes are fixed. Any change in the benefits I get, benefits I have worked for, could well mean that my income runs out before I do. I suspect there are many of me out there.

[jefferson_dem]

1. I'm sorry to hear that...

But appreciate your perspective.

[Pharaoh]

2. Agree

Obama is a huge disappointment.

[Sherman A1]

42. Agreed & Well Said

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. You are not alone.

I haven't missed a vote since 1964, but I've had it up to here with getting shafted by those (and the party) I've supported in one form or another.

You want my vote? You'll have to earn it through deeds, and not sticking it to me and others that supported you.

It stops. Right now. Today.

Leave Medicare and Social Security benefits alone.

[rurallib]

4. My resume is much like yours, only a couple years younger.

If rumors are true, all my plans are down the shitter, along with nearly 50 years of working for and supporting Democrats.
Repubs whine about businesses not being able to make plans (which is crap) - for the past ten years individuals can make no decisions because of the lack of leadership.

[AnneD]

56. Same thing....

I have already shifted to plan B.

I am tired of the Great Capitulator in Chief, the balless spineless Dems and the corporate Gops.

A plague on both their houses.

[peace13]

5. NGU. Happy you that you are getting benifits.

I am 12 years behind you and it doesn't look good. Note to self, if they make cuts or changes that compromise my future then I will quit the job and deal with it, refusing to add one more penny to the pot that you intend to pull from. I am certain that there will be many more that refuse to pay for services they will never receive. I suggest you try to stay engaged for your own best interest, if nothing else!

[AnneD]

58. Remember.....

Many of us that are close to retirement are just as furious about the plan to pit one generation against the other. Every American, and I mean every American, contributing to SS should get it. The Boomer contributed to both their parents SS and raised the tax on themselves for their retirement in the 80's to keep the system solvent. That information always seems to get lost in the 'entitlement' conversation. That money was stolen and misappropriated by the politicians. Some of us can remember past last season's American Idol.

[peace13]

73. Yes, and we have had a small business for over 30 years.

We have paid both halves of this for ourselves and half for others. That makes it even more disgusting. The icing on the cake is the raiding of IRA's and 401K's leaving little for retirement while contributing to that of others.

[Autumn]

6. I'm hoping the canaries sing very loud.

I'm a few years away but that's where I stand.

[we can do it]

7. I'm With You

They've cut pay, off shored jobs, fudged the CPI....now they want to cut SSI, Medicare and steal out pensions......some freakin change

[StarsInHerHair]

54. SSI is already being cut at the State levels

[tekisui]

8. Thanks for posting. I hope the WH realizes this is a horrible

political move as well as horrible policy.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. We have similar situation.

I enrolled in Soc. Sec. but not in Medicare, the handwriting was on the wall with Medicare during the Health Care "Reform" debates.

Freezing the COLA for Soc. Sec. was not part of my retirement plan.
Then today I read this:
"the White House is revisiting a proposal raised earlier in the negotiations to change the inflation measurement used to calculate Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, thus reducing annual increases."/b]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=137157495

Well, hell, they already HAVE revised the COLA to STOP any increases for the past 2 years.

[enough]

14. I'm curious about your decision to enroll in Soc Sec but not Medicare. Does this

mean that you know of some better option for medical insurance for us over-65ers? One that you think will continue to be better? I'm not arguing or doubting your decision, just wondering.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. We live in a very low medical cost area, and have a medical savings account.

I am not the kind of person who surrenders control of my money, I especially do not like automatic deductions,and I knew that Medicare deductions were going to rise rapidly over time.
Since hospital bills are one of the largest charges in medical problems, Part A of Medicare covers that.
( Part A, for those who do not know, is the premium free part of Medicare, everyone over 65 is eligible for it.
Part B is OPTIONAL)
We have had to use a hospital once so far, for 3 days, for an injury.

The outpatient costs,( drs, tests and scripts) which Part B covers and is the source of rising premiums, actually have cost us LESS on an annual basis than the premiums would have cost. MUCH less, about 1/4 of the annual premium cost for 2 people.

So, after doing a pencil analysis, looking at our gene pool in terms of health factors, and making a commitment to not indulge in unhealthy eating, smoking, etc. we decided to "insure" ourselves via our set aside emergency medical fund which we add to every month.

If a catastrophic event occurs, like cancer ( radiation, anyone???) we would be screwed with or without Medicare.
We have contingency plans for something that serious.

[enough]

31. Thanks for taking the time to spell that out, dixiegrrrl.

My husband and I also find that we use the system so little that our total yearly medical bills would be far far less than the yearly Medicare premium for two of us. But I guess part of the point of insurance is the "what if" element. Sounds as if you have arrived at a system that works for you!

[femrap]

48. Isn't just sickening that

we have to worry and plan for our health care? Do you think there will be a time when Americans become illegal immigrants....say in France or any other civilized country that views health care as a right and not a privilege? We will be hated.

And 'contingency plans' for a severe illness? I've long said I don't want a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) Order. I want a KMN....Kill Me Now Order.

It's not like this is a great place to live anymore. I'd rather not give Big Medical my last dime and then end up in hospice. I'd prefer to leave what little money I have to the SPCA and other groups.

Assisted suicide better be a part of this reduction in Medicare/Medicaid. We treat animals with more respect than we do people. I hate to see an animal suffer. I put down my cat of nearly 18 years nearly a year ago. I miss him. He would have made a better Prez than our current one. And most definitely better than the one before that.
:hi:

[ejpoeta]

67. oh the irony imagining some of these folks trying to keep the mexicans out now

trying to hop the fence to canada to get healthcare. they are the ones that shout the loudest 'USA!' but if it came down to it I wouldn't count them out of that if they or their kids were in dire need. I never blamed the people who came here looking for a better life. Only those who would exploit them. Imagine if someone had to build a fence to keep US out.

[Whisp]

10. let's wait and see, maybe this change isn't what the spittle throwers here say

we should know to wait a couple days at least and find out what the real story is.

happens repeatedly, lessons not learned yet

[Raven]

11. Agreed. I am ready to be pleasantly surprised. I am concerned

that there is such a mixed message coming out of DC...almost like the Dems have their collective fingers in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.

[Whisp]

12. that is what we are meant to think

and it's pushed all over.

oh those worthless weak do nothing Dems. not like those strong on message Republicans. Pundits get paid to say that over and over and over.

[Raven]

13. There's nothing wrong with a strong message if it's the right message.

[Whisp]

15. absolutely, but who is going to tell it?

CNN for example? No. They have such an imbalance of Dems vs Pugs on their shows, it's ridiculous. And those freaks like Carville actually do a lot more harm than good. The fix is in, has been for many years now.

[Divernan]

68. Easy for a Canadian like you to say, "let's wait and see."

Your profile doesn't reveal your residence, so I googled you on DU and see that you refer to yourself as being from Winnipeg (as in Manitoba, as in Canada).

"let's" is a contraction for "let us". If you are not an American citizen, you are NOT part of the "us", i.e, the US body politic, who will be impacted by changes to SS/Medicare/Medicaid. And if you are not an American citizen, you of course are not a Democrat.

I always taught my students to consider the source of the information presented to them.

I'm glad to see input on DU from people living in other countries as well as Americans living abroad. They have a different perspective. I have always loved Canada. However, unless you are an expat living in Winnipeg, you've got no skin in this game and you should not represent yourself as someone who does.

If you want to make a meaningful contribution to the discussion, tell us what's going on in your country. What political factions are pushing for what changes in the way your retired/older/disabled citizens are supported by your government, and how do you compare this to what's happening in the US?

[Irishonly]

16. Many of us live in fear

I am on disability and medicare. I live in fear these days. The PTB talk about cutting waste but I am not buying it anymore. Sometimes I think the elderly, poor, disabled and gays are thought of as Scrooge's surplus population by this administration.

[Bake]

17. I used to say SS wouldn't be there for me, when my time came

But I didn't really believe it. Now, a major recession later, and a totally depleted 401(k) later, it looks like I was right.

My time is coming sooner rather than later.

Thanks, Mr. President. Thanks for standing up for me ... oh, wait ... you didn't.

I'll sit it out too. Suck on that. You let them win. You let them have it all. How's that for a legacy?

Bake

[mike_c]

18. right with you, Raven....

We're in our late 50s here, worked all our lives and paid SS for our retirements. If the bastards touch SS or Medicare I'm utterly done with them. Preventing bad policy decisions is the primary reason for wanting to avoid that apocryphal Bachmann/Palin presidency-- if we're gonna get the damage anyway, why support democrats at all?

[Raven]

19. I'm afraid the Dems may think we have no place to go. But they

may find that on election day we don't go anywhere.

[progressoid]

21. I'm in my late 40's and feel the same way.

[kickysnana]

22. ditto

[southernyankeebelle]

23. You know I agree with you totally. I'm 63 and I have taken ss early because

of my health. I have already called Mr Hoyer's office, Mr. Reid's office and emailed the President and told them if they touch any of our entitlements we earned and paid for I will stay home and I know at least 10 people who will not vote either. I will sit it out. Let the republicans have it and put the final nail into the coffin of the country.

[bigmonkey]

24. Your proposed reaction will make your situation worse.

You say that your situation is very fragile, yet your proposed reaction is the most damaging possible to your own interests. How do you reconcile these two things?

[bemildred]

26. We con't have shit to say about what happens, and THAT IS the problem.

Pretending we do is what perpetuates the present order.

[bigmonkey]

27. You may feel better for a very short time with such an intention.

The long-term effect is really negative, practically self-destructive.

[bemildred]

29. I'm a senior, I'm going to be dead, I'm thinking about my children.

And your baseless unsupported assertions of doom do not stand up to examination. You do not have any better capability to read the future than I do.

[Raven]

28. How is not voting for a man who seriously impairs my financial

security against my own interests? Should I simply say "OK, Mr. President, hit me again."?

[bigmonkey]

32. Can I assume that you consider that the election of Republicans to be helpful?

For instance, the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts, which nixed the thin Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate? The defeat of Russ Feingold in Wisconsin? The election of Scott Walker in Wisconsin? The election of Rick Scott in Florida? These all were enabled by the kind of action you're proposing.

From a political point of view, it's the long term that matters. The long term and the short term don't always line up. I just don't think what you're proposing has any track record of working.

[bemildred]

37. Can I assume that you consider that electing Democrats that act like Republicans is helpful? nt

[bigmonkey]

38. Your question assumes that your "technique" is the only option.

I don't think that's correct. My questions stand.

I can understand your frustration, I share it, but what you are proposing hasn't worked in the past, and has every likelihood of making the situation worse. Your question in reply doesn't trump mine - do you really believe that if the situation gets much, much, worse then it will necessarily magically turn around? Anyway, to answer yours, electing Republicans, when the Democrats aren't working out as well as hoped, seems to be a failing plan from recent examples.

[bemildred]

39. I just copied your question.

I'm not frustrated, either. What I have proposed has worked damn fine, and more than once too. Voting the fuckers out of office when they refuse to obey happens all the time.

[bigmonkey]

40. Then you will be happy only if the worst happens.

Perhaps one day you'll see the contradiction in that. I hold out hope :-)

[bemildred]

41. Oooh, a mind reader too. nt

[bigmonkey]

43. "It's the things you know that ain't so."

Peace on you.

[bemildred]

44. Words to live by, I recommend them to you. nt

[Divernan]

71. He's an Obama supporter from Chicago - Rahm's got his back.

[woo me with science]

63. +1

"What I have proposed has worked damn fine, and more than once too. Voting the fuckers out of office when they refuse to obey happens all the time."


Well said. Sometimes withholding support or backing a primary alternative is the only thing they understand.

[bemildred]

25. +1. nt

[ljm2002]

30. I will not vote for any Democrat...

...who votes for cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. Let them cut the military, end the wars, roll back the Bush (and now, sadly, Obama) tax cuts. Voila! Deficit-B-Gone!

Democrats: get a friggin' clue.

[jimmyflint]

33. +1 n/t

[FrenchieCat]

34. Then that's what you should do!

and when Social Security and medicare is long gone because you allowed yourself to be a tool to those you were supposed to be fighting against, you can blame yourself for having been part of the problem.......because the end result of what you are advocating, if we all did it, would be Republican rule for the next 50 years. That will show you and us, won't it......you and your principles that lead to the worse future possible! But hey....at this point, it is those who say this President has no spine, who sit around denouncing him, and doing absolutely nothing else but shivering in their boots that have no spine. The kind of folks who don't know how to butress their side, instead, they throw their hands in the air, which for all practical purpose means you just don't really care (even though you say you do). Guess you'll be ok as long as you get yours.

[Raven]

36. You are talking to someone who has been an activist for Democrats

for 40+ years. I have plenty of spine...enough spine to call the bluff of the party that thinks it owns me. Oh, and btw, I'll be ok as long as everyone gets what they've worked for.

[Big Blue Marble]

45. Sorry Frenchie,

you are shouting in the wind with these same old tired scare tactics. We have fallen for this line over and again
only to left slowly twisting in the wind by our own party. This is the bright line. If they cross it, the Democratic
Party stands for nothing other than not being the Republican Party. Oh, and notice that the Democratic Party of
today is far to the right of the Republican Party of Richard Nixon. I remember; I lived through it.

[woo me with science]

62. +1 That line is getting old. nt

[Ozymanithrax]

35. It is a sad fact that the only way to punish a party in our system is to remove them from power.

But I agree with you. If the President signs cuts to social security, I will not support him. If Democrats in the Senate allow them to pass, I will not support the party.

I won't set the election out, but will cast my vote for thrid party candidates or write in candidates.

[AnneD]

59. ITA...

....

[Big Blue Marble]

46. I am a few years ahead of you and am a beneficiary of both.

Up until today, I was committed to voting for Obama even though I think he has failed to support most of my political values.
This is the line. If he fails us now, even if his own party stops him. I will not support him again in any way.

[high density]

47. I assume it will be phased in so it won't affect your generation

I figure gen X and beyond will be the ones to be totally screwed.

[StarsInHerHair]

55. did you see Bernie Sanders tweet mentioning a $2.6 trillion surplus in SS?

they are doing mind games, like with public ed. get you to devalue it, to dislike it or believe it won't be there, then you'll turn your back & THAT is when they'll try to get rid of it.


Sanders' tweet says 8 hours ago, so scroll down alittle

[Jersey Devil]

49. Please don't fall for the typical DU hysteria

Whatever you think of Obama you have to know he is not stupid. Cutting benefits for SS or Medicare would be political suicide for anyone and perhaps the stupidest political statement of all time.

Obama has said nothing, I repeat NOTHING, about cutting benefits for anyone. For anyone who disagrees I ask you to give me a quote from him on it. The Wapo article is just a bit of fireworks designed to sparkle on an otherwise typically boring, hot summer day.

The thing that bothers me the most is that there are so many, especially here at DU, who fall for this stuff all the time and assume the absolute worst about Obama at every given opportunity.

[Raven]

50. I am not assuming an outcome one way or the other. My post

was intended to lay out my thinking on what I would do in the worst case.

[bemildred]

52. Stop trashing DU.

You don't like it, go away.

[Jersey Devil]

72. Is that sort of a takeoff on

"my country, love it or leave it"?

I am not "trashing" DU. I am being critical of those here who seem ready to leap off a cliff at every negative rumor about President Obama.

BTW, who appointed you as Lord Protector of DU?

[bemildred]

74. Calling it "typical DU hysteria" is trashing it. Deal with it.

If you meant something else, say something else.

[lumberjack_jeff]

51. I'm pissed at Obama on behalf of my 12 year old.

It's subsequent generations that are going to get screwed by this.

[Raven]

53. Exactly! Every retirement calculator that I have ever seen asks

the same basic questions:

age
life expectancy
living expenses
savings
social security benefits
LEGACY

[woo me with science]

64. Yup. nt

[blkmusclmachine]

57. Looks like we're headed to a future of Soylent Green

Bad times ahead, and our current crop of "Democrats" are MIA.

[efhmc]

60. Stupid, stupid , stupid. 68 year old woman here.

If you think not reelecting a Democrat, i.e. putting a repuke in office, will keep any part of any program that will help us oldies or anyone else who is not a corporation or a big repuke donor in place as part of our government policy you are wrong. Being in a snit that Obama is not adhering to the politics of progressives will get us nothing. The repukes hate regular folk and want us to fail and you will be contributing to our downfall.

[Cereal Kyller]

61. K&R

[ProfessionalLeftist]

65. I suspect there are many of you. I'm not far behind you...

....and I wrote to the white house today and told them the same as what you just said: "NO DICE" on SS or Medicare cuts. I will write in Bernie Sanders or another candidate for the Presidency and will not support ANY Dem who supports such cuts. It's important to let THEM know your sentiments.

Posting them here feels good but accomplishes little unless they're seen by the President or your reps. (HINT HINT http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact)

[Divernan]

66. Biggest worry of women over 50: that their income will run out before they die

Don't recall where I saw a recent study - might have been reported on Huff Po. I think the researchers went in expecting answers like concerns about aging looks, finding a good plastic surgeon, or which retirement community should I choose. But the majority of these women were seriously worried about basic economic survival.

[tomp]

69. i'm going to need every penny i can get...

....if i'm going to avoid the necessity of working full time at very difficult work until i die.

[robcon]

70. I'm in a similar financial situation to the OP. I'm 63, and will vote for the Democrat.

I'll be proud to vote for President Obama.