Social Security

Young in America

David D. Burstein | Posted 10.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Health Care Debate, Social Innovation, Youth Vote, Youth, Unemployment Rate, Green Jobs, Economic Crisis, Social Security, Young-Invincibles, Economy, David Burstein, Renewable Energy, Jobs, Innovation, Fiscal Responsibility, Young Voters, Politics, Unemployed, Unemployment, Social Entrepreneurship, Millennials, Us Economic Crisis, Social Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Nancy Pelosi, Health Care, Politics News
David D. Burstein

By most indicators young people are the most adversely affected age group by the economic crisis, the most at risk when it comes to health care coverage, and the deepest in debt.

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Obama Calls For $250 Payments To Seniors

AP | STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics

Read More: Social Security, Seniors, Barack Obama, Social Security Payments, Politics News

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama called on Congress Wednesday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The Social Security Administration is scheduled to announce Thursday that there will be no cost of living increase next year. By law, increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year.

It would mark the first year without an increase in Social Security payments since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

"Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of those hardest hit by this recession," Obama said in a statement. "This additional assistance will be especially important in the coming months, as countless seniors and others have seen their retirement accounts and home values decline as a result of this economic crisis."

Obama's proposal is similar to several bills in Congress. The $250 payments would also go to those receiving veterans benefits, disability benefits, railroad retirees and retired public employees who don't receive Social Security. Recipients would be limited to one payment, even if they qualified for more.

The White House put the cost at $13 billion. Obama said he would not allow the payments to come out of the Social Security trust funds, further eroding the finances of the retirement program. Social Security already is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in each of the next two years.

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Does Stimulus Lead to Prosperity?

Alan Schram | Posted 10.12.2009 | Business

Read More: Business News, Financial Crisis, Medicare, Social Security, Saving Money, Federal Budget Deficit, Stimulus Package, Business News
Alan Schram

The argument for a massive spending increase as economic stimulus makes the assumption that spending is the source of our prosperity. Based on that false assumption, it's easy to arrive at the wrong conclusion.

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Recession Creating A Lost Generation; Young People Can't Find Jobs

BusinesWeek | Peter Coy | Posted 10.11.2009 | Business

Read More: Social Security, Salary, College Graduates, Youth, High School Graduates, Unemployment Rate, Young Workers, Recession, Wages, Retirement, Graduate Degrees, Workforce, Old Workers, Salaries, Unemployment, Lost Generation, Retirees, Part-Time, Unemployment Numbers, Baby Boomers, Pensions, Economy, Full-Time, Business News

Bright, eager -- and unwanted. While unemployment is ravaging just about every part of the global workforce, the most enduring harm is being done to y...

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Health Care and the 'Predator State'

Thomas Frank | Posted 10.07.2009 | Politics

Read More: The Predator State, James K. Galbraith, Charles Grassley, Social Security, Health Care, Public Option, Health Care Reform, Medicare, Health Insurance, South Dakota, John Thune, Barack Obama, Darwinian, Politics News
Thomas Frank

Although Republicans have snapped up James Galbraith's catchy book title, the politicians have misunderstood his message. They need to go back over The Predator State for a second reading.

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The Crime of the Century

Gov. Dick Lamm | Posted 10.05.2009 | Denver

Read More: Entitlements, Intergenerational Equity, Colorado Politics, Senior Citizens, Social Security, Health Care Reform, Medicare, Medicaid, Home Ownership, Denver News
Gov. Dick Lamm

Never before has one group appropriated as much money that belonged to another group in the history of crime. It was literally and figuratively as easy as taking candy out of the mouths of children.

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Social Security Demand Shows Huge Increase Due To Recession

bloomberg.com | Jonathan D. Salant | Posted 10.05.2009 | Business

Read More: Social Security Administration, Barak Obama, Social Security, Retirement, George W. Bush, Lawrence Summers, Business News

Applications for Social Security benefits rose almost 50 percent more than expected this year because of the recession, according to the federal retir...

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Retirement Security, Guaranteed

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. | Posted 12.01.2009 | Business

Read More: 401(K), Social Security, 401k, Retirement, Economy, Economic Crisis, Financial Crisis, Business News
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.

The decline in financial markets has reduced the value of 401(k) accounts that Americans are counting on to complement Social Security and has led many retirees to realize it is possible to outlive their savings.

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Social Security: The Red Ink Starts Next Year

Eric Schurenberg | Posted 11.30.2009 | Business

Read More: Social Security Administration, Social Security, Congressional Budget Office, Social Security Trust Fund, Business News
Eric Schurenberg

In case there was any doubt that Social Security won't be able to keep the promises it's making to anyone younger than, say, 55, the CBO now projects that Social Security will start operating at a deficit next year.

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Social Security Strained By Job Losses, Early Retirements

AP | STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | Posted 11.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Politics, Social Security, Senior Citizens, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits ...

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Job losses, early retirements hurt Social Security

AP | STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | Posted 11.27.2009 | Business

Read More: Social Security Early Retirements, Social Security, Social Security System Strained, Personal Finance, Business News

WASHINGTON — Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits ...

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The Health Care Conversation We'd Rather Not Have: How Other People's Money Protects Us from Difficult Choices

David Paul | Posted 11.14.2009 | Politics

Read More: Social Security, Heathcare Reform, Aging, Atul Gawande, Other Peopes' Money, Dr. Andrew Weil, Medicare, Single Payer Healthcare, Health Care, Politics News
David Paul

Each Medicare patient feels entitled to have it with few strings attached. But the truth is that it is one more tax-funded program. Just like the stimulus money. Just like the wars. Just like everything else.

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HuffPost Exclusives: R.E.M. and Cory Chisel, Plus Bruce Hornsby Interview, Big Star Box, Paolo Nutini Live, This Week's New Albums, and more...

Mike Ragogna | Posted 11.14.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: Renee Fleming, Kid Cudi, Sony Legacy, The Pointer Sisters, Kanye West, Brendan Benson, Scarlett Johansson, Ying Yang Twins, Rob Blackledge, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemaekrs, Trick Daddy, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Bobby Read, One Tree Hill, Joe Wilson, Yes, John Christian Adams, Bruce Hornsby, Vern Gosdin, Manic Street Preachers, Wbcn, John Fogerty, Muse, Goalie, Bill Medley, Columbia Records, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Robbie Robertson, William and Mary, Men at Work, Williamsburg, VIncent Moon, Flo Rida, Shudder to Think, Soccer, Donnie McClurkin, Disney, Cab Calloway, Jack DeJohnette, Medicaid, American Idol, Outloud!, 429 Records, Colin Hay, Verve Forecast, Social Security, Elliott Smith, BBC Radio, The Lovemakers, Peter Yorn, The Raconteurs, RCA Records, Ne-Yo, Something to Burn, Shadows Fall, The Band of Heathens, Uncle Kracker, Matthew Sweet, Gary Go, Dappled Cities, Grey's Anatomy, Atlantic Records, Cy Coleman, Alex Chilton, Adriel Harris, Matt Chamberlain, Ahmet Ertegun, Q-Tip, Mason Jennings, The Black Dahlia Murders, Living Colour, Michael Raphael, Stax, Beyonce, J.T. Taylor, John Mayall, Mark Knopfler, Patrick Warren, Ricky Scaggs, Boston College, The Grateful Dead, Jody Stephens, Bill Evans, Tom Russell, Golden Smog, Clive David, Jupiter One, Randy Newman, Robert Hunter, Power Pop, The Band, Bruce Springsteen, Infected Mushroom, Eurythmics, Andy Hummel, Jon Auer, Levon Helm, Christian McBride, John Sebastian, Tina Sinatra, Aiden Brown, Phish, Sony Music, Royal Bangs, John King, Grace Potter, Peter Buck, Graham Albert, My Morning Jacket, The Peace Corps, Jeremiah, Santana, G.I. Bill, Steve Winwood, Big Pun, Rob Kemp, David Sylvain, Chris Knight, Doug Derryberry, That Noise, Lyfe Jennings, Honor Society, Sonny Emory, Entertainment News, Gordon Gano, Blake Mills, Jack Lawrence, Chris Bell, Frank Sinatra, E Street Band, Jefferson Airplane, Trey Songz, Eric Clapton, The Righteous Brothers, Chip deMatteo, Thomas Newman, Jer Coons, Arnold Schoenberg, Bill Lloyd, Barry White, Keith Sykes, Nancy Sinatra, Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, Orange, Paolo Nutini, The Beatles, Big Star, Anvil, Nashville, Air Supply, Frank Sinatra Jr., Chad Smith, Wwf, Dada Life, Porcupine Tree, Peter Bernhard, Ace Frehley, The Grates, Revolutionary War, Butterfly Boucher, The Elms, The Shawshank Redemption, Medicare, Kurt Carr, Bobby Labonte, Marie Digby, Stars of Track and Filed, Afghan Whigs, Simian Mobile Disco, Americana, The Rifles, Mary J. Blige, The 69 Eyes, Al Albert, Memphis, Savoy Brown, Dreamworks, Every Time I Die, George Jones, Nina Simone, Big Scoop, Lady GaGa, Ardent Studios, Cain's Offering, R.E.M., Moneen, Kroq, Rubik, Kittie, Cornwallis, Dodos, All-4-One, Megadeth, Sonos, Entertainment News
Mike Ragogna

R.E.M. will be releasing Live At The Olympia, a 39-song, two CD set containing "working rehearsals" from 2007. I was lent a track that captures the band's energy and insightful views.

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We Are Much More Than a Fiscal Watchdog

Tim Roeper | Posted 11.11.2009 | Media

Read More: Jason Linkins, Barack Obama, Polling, George W. Bush, Social Security, Lewin Group, Dartmouth Atlas Project, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Peter G. Peterson, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, Health Care, Fiscal Responsibility, Media News
Tim Roeper

Jason Linkins got some things wrong about the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and we feel compelled to clear the air.

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Funding Medicare, Funding Health Care

Lincoln Mitchell | Posted 11.10.2009 | Politics

Read More: Entitlements, Dedicated Funding, Social Security, Public Option, Fica, Tax Cuts, Iraq War, Medicare, Health Care, Politics News
Lincoln Mitchell

The debate around the future of both Medicare and Social Security almost always occurs on a separate track from broader budget discussions and assumes that there is only one way to pay for these programs.

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Obama Presses Hard to Unite Dems on Healthcare and Slaps Down Republican "Demagoguery"

Ray Hanania | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: John McCain, Demagoguery, Public Option, Insurance, Death Panels, Social Security, US Senate, President Obama, Government Takeover, Denial of Pre-Existing Conditions, Medicaid, Medicare, Reform, Socialism, Health Care, US House, Ted Kennedy, Joint Session of Congress, Politics News
Ray Hanania

The President's speech was so powerful it probably sent many of the nation's health insurance industry robber barons into economic cardiac arrest.

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Permanent Irrelevance: Outcome for Republicans If Dems Pass Universal Health Care

Paul Abrams | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Social Security, President Obama, New Deal, Healthcare Reform, Medicare, Universal Healthcare, Republicans, Democrats, Politics News
Paul Abrams

Universal health care, with a strong government option, will be the nail in the political coffin of the Republican Party.

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Dionne: TV Over-Covering The Right-Wing Fringe

Washington Post | E.J. Dionne Jr. | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Social Security, Public Option, Chet Edwards, Frank Kratovil, Tom Perriello, Democratic-House-Members, Medicare, Medicaid, Healthcare Debate, Healthcare Reform, Town Hall Meetings, Mary Jo Kilroy, David Price, Politics News

Health-care reform is said to be in trouble partly because of those raucous August town-hall meetings in which Democratic members of Congress were bes...

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Who Will Be Hurt if the Democrats Pass Health Care Alone

Lincoln Mitchell | Posted 10.18.2009 | Politics

Read More: Social Security, Public Option, Ronald Reagan, Death Panels, Lyndon B. Johnson, David Brooks, Nazi Policies, Great Society, Socialism, Medicare, Bipartisanship, Bipartisan, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Barack Obama, Civil Rights, Politics News
Lincoln Mitchell

If the Democrats pass the health care bill, and are able to do it with a public option, the Republicans will have once again put themselves on the opposing side of groundbreaking legislation.

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Friday Talking Points [91] -- Win One For Teddy

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Social Security, Ted, May You Be in Heaven, Cloture, Win One for Teddy, Employee Free Choice Act, Public Universities, Irish Wake, Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy, Filibuster, Politicizing, Reform, Politicize, Democratic, Friday Talking Points, Paul Wellstone, Funeral, Video, Edward Kennedy, Mayor Quimby, Simpsons, Senator, Chow-Dah, Midotw, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Public Education, Public University, Health Care, Reid, Diamond Joe Quimby, Irish, Card Check, Massachusetts, Democrat, Medicaid, Majority Leader, The Simpsons, Democrats, Efca, Springfield, The Simpsons Movie, USA Today, Contest, Edward M Kennedy, Mddotw, Eulogy, Chris Weigant, Health, Uncle Ted, Senator Kennedy, Harry Reid, Medicare, Irish Toast, Socialism, Higher Education, Wellstone, Teddy, Up or Down Vote, Quimby, Healthcare, Senate, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Calling for some sort of decorous avoidance of politics during politicians' funerals is downright ridiculous. It'd be like eulogizing Charles Lindbergh and not mentioning airplanes.

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Kennedy's Quick Win for Social Security

Dean Baker | Posted 09.26.2009 | Business

Read More: Social Security, Ted Kennedy, Alan Greenspan, Economics, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Consumer Price Index, Business News
Dean Baker

Someone who had been receiving Social Security in 1996 would be getting about 13 percent less in their monthly check today. Senator Kennedy protected the financial security of millions.

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Hope 2.0: Standing With Obama Over the Long Haul

Mark Klempner | Posted 09.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama Cabinet, Liberal Media, Heathcare Reform, Radical Middle, Progressive Values, Progressive Agenda, Social Security, Economic Crisis, President Obama, Obama Administration, Obama, Progressive Politics, Progressive Movement, Obama Economy, Barack Obama, Radical Center, Barack Obama 2008, Liberal Blogosphere, Obama Change, Harper's Magazine, Financial Meltdown, Financial Crisis, Medicare, Bipartisanship, Radical Centrism, Obama Liberal, Progressive Media, Elitism, Politics News
Mark Klempner

It's not that I object to critical thinking. We need it. Yet, while we're reminding Obama of his promises and scrutinizing him on his decisions, we need to stand with him.

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Lessons in Leadership: Why Obama Needs to Brush Up on His FDR

Arianna Huffington | Posted 09.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama Leadership, Social Security, Obama PhRMA, Obama Leadership Style, Kent Conrad, Obama Leadership, Health Care Reform, Fdr, Obama Health Care, Town Hall Meetings, Politics News
Arianna Huffington

The president, though a dedicated student of history, has failed to learn the lesson of our nation's most significant political confrontations.

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Want to Stimulate the Economy? Lower the Retirement Age to 55 Now!

Thom Hartmann | Posted 09.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Economic Stimulus, Social Security, Medicare, Retirement, Politics News
Thom Hartmann

If enough Boomers left the job market, it would flip the current dynamic of too-many-people-chasing-too-few-jobs upside down, and create a tight labor markets.

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The Disability, Health Care and Employment Connection

Ari Ne'eman | Posted 09.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Americans With Disabilities Act, Social Security, Disability Rights, Employment, Health Care Reform, Autism, Disability, Disability-Benefits, Medicare, Neurodiversity, Medicaid, Politics News
Ari Ne'eman

Amy, a 22-year-old with a spinal cord injury, is caught in a vicious catch-22. If she goes to work, she will lose the assistance that makes it possible for her to work and live independently in the first place.

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