By Will Parry
The nation’s Social Security beneficiaries – more than 58.7 million men, women and children in all – find their standard of living, never luxurious, shrinking year after year because of an outdated and grossly inadequate formula for calculating the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA).
The inadequacy of the formula has been made freshly obvious by its failure to provide any COLA at all either in the current year or in 2011, despite the widespread recognition that living costs continue to rise.
Now a new UCLA study has revealed that “a whole hidden group of adults” over age 65, hitherto not recognized, are in actual need despite their Social Security checks.
Social Security was the primary source of income for 64% of retirees in 2008. One in every three relied on the benefit for at least 90% of their income.
The average Social Security benefit is currently about $1,072 a month, or $12,864 a year. Millions of women, confined to low-wage jobs or out of the labor market entirely as family caregivers, receive substantially less than that amount. Many of those millions are officially living in poverty, as measured by the federal government, with incomes under $10,830 a year.
Now the UCLA study has found that, in California, single persons over age 65, renting a one-bedroom apartment, actually need, not $10,830, but $21,763 -- twice the federal government standard -- to make ends meet.
“There is this whole hidden group of adults in need,” said Susan Smith, program director at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, which commissioned the research. What’s economic reality in California has validity in Washington State and across the U.S., despite state-to-state variations.
The government’s official poverty measure has been criticized for years because it is based on spending patterns when about a third of a family’s income went toward food.
The official poverty threshold was first calculated in the 1950s, using the cost of a nutrition plan described by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the bare minimum needed to survive an emergency. It is adjusted annually for inflation, but it doesn’t take into account changing standards of living, regional cost differences, or public benefits and tax credits.
“We don’t spend a third of our income on food,” said Gerald McIntyre, an attorney for the National Senior Citizens Law Center. “If we did, we’d have no place to live.”
Advocates for the elderly emphasize the failure of the standard to take into account out-of-pocket medical costs, which have risen much faster than the overall cost of living.
Advocates, including the Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging (W4A) and Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW), have been lobbying for the adoption of a measure known as the Elder Economic Security Standard Index. Developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Gerontology Institute, the index is calculated using the latest government data on food, housing, transportation and medical costs.
Attempts to incorporate the index into state and federal law have run into resistance from those worried about the costs of social services.
Governmental inaction leaves older Americans splitting pills, borrowing money from friends and maxing out their credit cards. And relying on Social Security checks that won’t see a COLA in two full years.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Learning from North Dakota
Imagine the state of Washington controlling its own revenue and keeping the profits from the revenue local instead of exporting them as commercial bank profits. If a bill introduced by Rep. Bob Hasegawa makes it through the 2011 state legislative session, that dream could become reality. Hasegawa originally introduced HB 3162--a bill to create the State Bank of Washington (SBW)--in the 2010 session.
“As we weather the Great Recession, the lack of accessible capital for small businesses increases the economic hardships that hundreds of working families are going through,” said Hasegawa. “Small businesses are the economic drivers that help Washington’s commerce run smoothly, but when they cannot access the capital they need, the consequences result in chain reactions that invariably end up hurting most, if not all, working families, small businesses and family farms in our state.”
HB 3162 is modeled after the Bank of North Dakota (BND), the only state-owned bank in the nation. North Dakota has operated a successful financial institution since 1919, and is one of only two states that have avoided budget deficits in the past three years. Many experts cite BND as a large part of the reason.
Currently, the state Treasurer invests Washington’s operating cash in short-term, interest-bearing accounts in banks and thrifts that are approved to hold state and local government deposits. If SBW were to exist, the Treasurer would deposit state revenue into it, and the bank could lend money, assume debt and invest in private companies just like a private bank. We could achieve greater returns on state funds, and also provide access to capital for businesses that need it to thrive.
At least eight U.S. states are considering proposals to start state-run banks. The Service Employees International Union Urging is advocating for this legislation as it wages a national campaign to stop investing in unaccountable banks. “It’s time for Wall Street banks to stop focusing on their profits and start doing their part to help our cities and families recover,” says SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.
In the last three-plus years, the Bush and Obama administrations have pumped trillions of dollars into private banks through the federal bank bail-outs, with the hope that they would begin lending again. The prospect of what could have been done with all that money has some key thinkers and doers talking of taking the North Dakota model national.
A year ago, economist Joseph Stieglitz suggested, “If we had used the $700 billion to create a new financial institution, allowed it to lever 10-to-1, which is very modest compared to the 30-to-1 that we were doing, 10-to-1 would have generated $7 trillion of new lending capacity, far in excess of what our country needs. So the issue here is not about lending. It’s really about saving the bankers. And what we confused was saving the banks versus saving the bankers and their shareholders.”
What Stieglitz was referring to was a little-known practice called fractional reserve lending. Put simply, most private banks around the world lend money that they do not have, but that they literally create as an entry in their accounting books at the moment the loan is made. In the U.S., banks are allowed to lend up to 10 times the amount of money they have on deposit with the Federal Reserve. By starting a bank, states can multiply the power of the money they have from tax revenues.
State bank legislation faces monumental challenges including the start-up cost and political opposition Daunting, but nor insurmountable, given the state of the world these days. It is time for some fresh thinking.
By Steve Dzielak, PSARA member
“As we weather the Great Recession, the lack of accessible capital for small businesses increases the economic hardships that hundreds of working families are going through,” said Hasegawa. “Small businesses are the economic drivers that help Washington’s commerce run smoothly, but when they cannot access the capital they need, the consequences result in chain reactions that invariably end up hurting most, if not all, working families, small businesses and family farms in our state.”
HB 3162 is modeled after the Bank of North Dakota (BND), the only state-owned bank in the nation. North Dakota has operated a successful financial institution since 1919, and is one of only two states that have avoided budget deficits in the past three years. Many experts cite BND as a large part of the reason.
Currently, the state Treasurer invests Washington’s operating cash in short-term, interest-bearing accounts in banks and thrifts that are approved to hold state and local government deposits. If SBW were to exist, the Treasurer would deposit state revenue into it, and the bank could lend money, assume debt and invest in private companies just like a private bank. We could achieve greater returns on state funds, and also provide access to capital for businesses that need it to thrive.
At least eight U.S. states are considering proposals to start state-run banks. The Service Employees International Union Urging is advocating for this legislation as it wages a national campaign to stop investing in unaccountable banks. “It’s time for Wall Street banks to stop focusing on their profits and start doing their part to help our cities and families recover,” says SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.
In the last three-plus years, the Bush and Obama administrations have pumped trillions of dollars into private banks through the federal bank bail-outs, with the hope that they would begin lending again. The prospect of what could have been done with all that money has some key thinkers and doers talking of taking the North Dakota model national.
A year ago, economist Joseph Stieglitz suggested, “If we had used the $700 billion to create a new financial institution, allowed it to lever 10-to-1, which is very modest compared to the 30-to-1 that we were doing, 10-to-1 would have generated $7 trillion of new lending capacity, far in excess of what our country needs. So the issue here is not about lending. It’s really about saving the bankers. And what we confused was saving the banks versus saving the bankers and their shareholders.”
What Stieglitz was referring to was a little-known practice called fractional reserve lending. Put simply, most private banks around the world lend money that they do not have, but that they literally create as an entry in their accounting books at the moment the loan is made. In the U.S., banks are allowed to lend up to 10 times the amount of money they have on deposit with the Federal Reserve. By starting a bank, states can multiply the power of the money they have from tax revenues.
State bank legislation faces monumental challenges including the start-up cost and political opposition Daunting, but nor insurmountable, given the state of the world these days. It is time for some fresh thinking.
By Steve Dzielak, PSARA member
Helping the Elderly Stay Independent
(Editor’s note: Among the devastating cuts impending in the 2011 legislative session are projected cuts in funding for the Senior Citizens Services Act, the subject of this article. Despite a steady growth in the need for its services, funding for the act has been static for years. At issue in 2011 are possible cuts in such lifeline services as Senior Information and Assistance, foot care, bath assistance, minor home repair, adult day health care, transportation and case management.)
The Senior Citizens Services Act: It’s a stodgy, bureaucratic name for a very important piece of legislation that helps older adults remain at home and stay independent. SCSA funds important services you may have used in the past as well as services that you may not know about.
One critical service is Senior Information and Assistance. This service quickly connects seniors and their helping families to resources and programs through its help line and online data base. Senior I & A is often the first place that citizens turn for help in finding resources for caregiving information, adult day programs, and transportation needs, for example.
Less well known services are Discretionary Case Management, serving vulnerable adults who "fall through the cracks" of the regular Medicaid system; Adult Day Health, helping older adults remain in their communities by offering skilled day care with nursing, occupational, and physical therapy services and The Volunteer Transportation Program, providing rides to medical and other appointments for vulnerable and homebound elders through the use of volunteers and other cost-effective approaches.
Lesser amounts of funding are allocated to programs such as Health Promotion, The Senior Farmers’ Market, Long Term Care Ombudsman program, Elder Abuse, Alzheimer’s Support, Mental Health and Minor Depression Intervention.
The importance of these programs can be illustrated by looking at just one: Alzheimer’s Support. Studies have shown that families who receive training, support and at times respite, are able to keep their Alzheimer’s patient at home on average one year longer than families without these supports. Every month a patient remains at home in family care is a savings of many thousands of dollars to the state.
Funding for these services will be an issue in the next Legislative session as our representatives attempt to trim the budget to meet the state revenues. Cutting programs such as SCSA actually end up costing both the state and the Federal government much more as frail elderly need to enter long term care facilities once they lose the services that help them stay at home.
With the elder population in King County expected to double by 2025, the high cost of long term care placement will consume an enormous portion of the budget. It is wiser to support and enhance those community based services that keep seniors in their homes as long as possible. Urge your legislator to preserve funding to the Senior Citizen’s Services Act.
By Diane Snell, a member of PSARA.
The Senior Citizens Services Act: It’s a stodgy, bureaucratic name for a very important piece of legislation that helps older adults remain at home and stay independent. SCSA funds important services you may have used in the past as well as services that you may not know about.
One critical service is Senior Information and Assistance. This service quickly connects seniors and their helping families to resources and programs through its help line and online data base. Senior I & A is often the first place that citizens turn for help in finding resources for caregiving information, adult day programs, and transportation needs, for example.
Less well known services are Discretionary Case Management, serving vulnerable adults who "fall through the cracks" of the regular Medicaid system; Adult Day Health, helping older adults remain in their communities by offering skilled day care with nursing, occupational, and physical therapy services and The Volunteer Transportation Program, providing rides to medical and other appointments for vulnerable and homebound elders through the use of volunteers and other cost-effective approaches.
Lesser amounts of funding are allocated to programs such as Health Promotion, The Senior Farmers’ Market, Long Term Care Ombudsman program, Elder Abuse, Alzheimer’s Support, Mental Health and Minor Depression Intervention.
The importance of these programs can be illustrated by looking at just one: Alzheimer’s Support. Studies have shown that families who receive training, support and at times respite, are able to keep their Alzheimer’s patient at home on average one year longer than families without these supports. Every month a patient remains at home in family care is a savings of many thousands of dollars to the state.
Funding for these services will be an issue in the next Legislative session as our representatives attempt to trim the budget to meet the state revenues. Cutting programs such as SCSA actually end up costing both the state and the Federal government much more as frail elderly need to enter long term care facilities once they lose the services that help them stay at home.
With the elder population in King County expected to double by 2025, the high cost of long term care placement will consume an enormous portion of the budget. It is wiser to support and enhance those community based services that keep seniors in their homes as long as possible. Urge your legislator to preserve funding to the Senior Citizen’s Services Act.
By Diane Snell, a member of PSARA.
Time to Act
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand… Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both.”
During Douglass’ time, the institution of slavery created immense wealth for a small few white men, who fomented racism against black Americans as a way to maintain that wealth. It took incredible courage and risk to stand up against slavery, and it took unprecedented bloodshed to finally end the horrific practice.
For decades, the chasm between the have’s and have not’s has been widening in our state and nation. The Great Recession has served to accelerate this transfer of wealth from the poor to the very wealthy. We are now unraveling the social safety net and cutting nearly $7 billion from our state’s budget, including cuts to everything from kidney dialysis for immigrants to health care for the working poor, from dental care to basic education. Meanwhile, corporations are basking in the highest quarterly profits in history.
Today, the wealthiest 1% of the nation earns more than the bottom 90% combined. And in pursuit of even greater profits, big corporations like Chevron, Bank of America, Pepsico, and a litany of other multinationals funneled millions into Washington State to pass initiatives like I-1053, which effectively eliminates the state’s ability to close corporate tax loopholes.
In social movements before and since, Douglass’ statement has rung true. Whether it is movements for labor, civil rights, women’s suffrage, or immigrant rights, it has been the courage of individuals, standing up to power and against injustice, that has catalyzed social change. And today, big corporations and the very wealthy have been waging an unrelenting war on the poor and the middle class. They will continue to win until ordinary people stand up and take extraordinary action together, and directly confront corporate power.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 17th, hundreds of people are gathering in Olympia to fight for an equitable state budget. If you can join us, please contact Nathan at 206-409-5051, or register online at www.mlkday2011.eventbrite.com. Then on Saturday, January 22nd, we are convening a training to fight back for people and against corporate power. If you are interested, call Washington CAN! at 206-389-0050 to get more information. If not us, who? If not now, when?
Rachel Berkson is Associate Director of Washington Community Action Network & a PSARA member
During Douglass’ time, the institution of slavery created immense wealth for a small few white men, who fomented racism against black Americans as a way to maintain that wealth. It took incredible courage and risk to stand up against slavery, and it took unprecedented bloodshed to finally end the horrific practice.
For decades, the chasm between the have’s and have not’s has been widening in our state and nation. The Great Recession has served to accelerate this transfer of wealth from the poor to the very wealthy. We are now unraveling the social safety net and cutting nearly $7 billion from our state’s budget, including cuts to everything from kidney dialysis for immigrants to health care for the working poor, from dental care to basic education. Meanwhile, corporations are basking in the highest quarterly profits in history.
Today, the wealthiest 1% of the nation earns more than the bottom 90% combined. And in pursuit of even greater profits, big corporations like Chevron, Bank of America, Pepsico, and a litany of other multinationals funneled millions into Washington State to pass initiatives like I-1053, which effectively eliminates the state’s ability to close corporate tax loopholes.
In social movements before and since, Douglass’ statement has rung true. Whether it is movements for labor, civil rights, women’s suffrage, or immigrant rights, it has been the courage of individuals, standing up to power and against injustice, that has catalyzed social change. And today, big corporations and the very wealthy have been waging an unrelenting war on the poor and the middle class. They will continue to win until ordinary people stand up and take extraordinary action together, and directly confront corporate power.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 17th, hundreds of people are gathering in Olympia to fight for an equitable state budget. If you can join us, please contact Nathan at 206-409-5051, or register online at www.mlkday2011.eventbrite.com. Then on Saturday, January 22nd, we are convening a training to fight back for people and against corporate power. If you are interested, call Washington CAN! at 206-389-0050 to get more information. If not us, who? If not now, when?
Rachel Berkson is Associate Director of Washington Community Action Network & a PSARA member
Grocery Store Workers Stand Up Together
Grocery Store Workers Stand Up Together in Tough Economy --
New Agreement Protects Health & Pension Plans, and Improves Wages
During the first two weeks of December, grocery store workers across nine Puget Sound counties voted to approve a new contract with the big national chain stores by 95%. Included with this vote were many of the local independent grocery store workers. All together, 25,000 union grocery store workers are covered by these contracts negotiated by UFCW 21, UFCW 81, and Teamsters 38.
The big chains (Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertsons) came into negotiations in March proposing serious cuts to nearly every part of the contract. But grocery store workers repeatedly took action and stood up together – and ultimately achieved a fair contract even in a tough economy. The fight for a fair contract was on the front page of many newspapers, and heard in dozens of TV and radio stories. (Check out ufcw21.org for contract details, videos, and some news coverage.)
“This shows how regular working people – when they stand together – can make their boss sit down and agree to a reasonable compromise. They wanted to use the tough economy as an excuse to cut our pay and benefits, but we didn’t let them. We secured a better future for ourselves and our families,” said Tasha West-Baker, UFCW 21 member and Safeway worker.
A Long Campaign — That Gets Results
Thousands upon thousands of workers took action over the long campaign, with buttons, stickers, action meetings, the Grocery Store Workers Bill of Rights, and more. Workers won broad support from community organizations (including many times with PSARA members showed solidarity by showing up for actions), other labor unions, and customers.
“We work hard for these companies, but they were trying to use the tough economy to gut our pay and benefits. We stuck together and showed them we weren’t going accept that and made some important improvements for our jobs, protected our health and pension plans, and our wages,” said Lynnette Larson, UFCW 21 Bargaining Team member and Fred Meyer worker.
By mid-October actions had taken place in every single one of the 200+ big chain stores in the area, but the employers were still proposing severe cuts to pay, severe cuts to health and pension benefits, and severe cuts to our working conditions. The time had come to vote.
In mid-November, workers voted by 94% to reject the employers' proposal and authorize a strike. Within days, the employers and the union member bargaining team went back into negotiations. As TV reporters warned of a possible strike by Thanksgiving, customers, community organizations, and other unions showed strong support for the workers. Three consecutive days of bargaining ended just before midnight on November 20th as a tentative agreement was reached.
The campaign of workers standing up and having strong support from the community led to defeating most of the employers' efforts to gut our contract and to reach an agreement that protects benefits and improves wages.
Check out more about the contract and the employer proposals that were defeated at ufcw21.org/connect/grocery-workers.
By Tom Geiger, Communications Director, UFCW 21 & a PASRA Member
New Agreement Protects Health & Pension Plans, and Improves Wages
During the first two weeks of December, grocery store workers across nine Puget Sound counties voted to approve a new contract with the big national chain stores by 95%. Included with this vote were many of the local independent grocery store workers. All together, 25,000 union grocery store workers are covered by these contracts negotiated by UFCW 21, UFCW 81, and Teamsters 38.
The big chains (Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertsons) came into negotiations in March proposing serious cuts to nearly every part of the contract. But grocery store workers repeatedly took action and stood up together – and ultimately achieved a fair contract even in a tough economy. The fight for a fair contract was on the front page of many newspapers, and heard in dozens of TV and radio stories. (Check out ufcw21.org for contract details, videos, and some news coverage.)
“This shows how regular working people – when they stand together – can make their boss sit down and agree to a reasonable compromise. They wanted to use the tough economy as an excuse to cut our pay and benefits, but we didn’t let them. We secured a better future for ourselves and our families,” said Tasha West-Baker, UFCW 21 member and Safeway worker.
A Long Campaign — That Gets Results
Thousands upon thousands of workers took action over the long campaign, with buttons, stickers, action meetings, the Grocery Store Workers Bill of Rights, and more. Workers won broad support from community organizations (including many times with PSARA members showed solidarity by showing up for actions), other labor unions, and customers.
“We work hard for these companies, but they were trying to use the tough economy to gut our pay and benefits. We stuck together and showed them we weren’t going accept that and made some important improvements for our jobs, protected our health and pension plans, and our wages,” said Lynnette Larson, UFCW 21 Bargaining Team member and Fred Meyer worker.
By mid-October actions had taken place in every single one of the 200+ big chain stores in the area, but the employers were still proposing severe cuts to pay, severe cuts to health and pension benefits, and severe cuts to our working conditions. The time had come to vote.
In mid-November, workers voted by 94% to reject the employers' proposal and authorize a strike. Within days, the employers and the union member bargaining team went back into negotiations. As TV reporters warned of a possible strike by Thanksgiving, customers, community organizations, and other unions showed strong support for the workers. Three consecutive days of bargaining ended just before midnight on November 20th as a tentative agreement was reached.
The campaign of workers standing up and having strong support from the community led to defeating most of the employers' efforts to gut our contract and to reach an agreement that protects benefits and improves wages.
Check out more about the contract and the employer proposals that were defeated at ufcw21.org/connect/grocery-workers.
By Tom Geiger, Communications Director, UFCW 21 & a PASRA Member
Senator Bernie Sanders Comment
In the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing. Meanwhile, the people at the top are doing phenomenally well. The crooks on Wall Street whose greed precipitated this recession are now earning more money than before the American people bailed them out. The top one percent in our country now earn over 23 percent of all income, more than the bottom 50 percent. The U.S. today has by far the most unequal distribution of income and wealth of any major country on earth and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider.
Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor, The Retiree Advocate:
The Iraq Federation of Oil Unions has appealed for help in raising the $600 a month needed to publish its newspaper. Because the anti-worker laws of Saddam Hussein are still in effect, the union cannot collect dues or otherwise operate in a normal way. Their newspaper is the principal way the union communicates with its tens of thousands of members.
U.S. Labor Against the War is asking organizations to contribute monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or to make a one-time donation toward the $600 monthly goal. Individuals can help with small monthly contributions or a one-time donation. Expressing our solidarity in this concrete way can help this courageous union defend the interests of Iraqi workers and Iraqi society against corporate schemes to privatize Iraq’s oil resources. Please make your check to: U.S. Labor Against the War, 1718 M Street NW #153, Washington, D.C. 20036, with “Iraqi Union Newspaper “ in the MEMO line.
‘
Catherine Pottinger,
PSARA Member, Seattle
The Iraq Federation of Oil Unions has appealed for help in raising the $600 a month needed to publish its newspaper. Because the anti-worker laws of Saddam Hussein are still in effect, the union cannot collect dues or otherwise operate in a normal way. Their newspaper is the principal way the union communicates with its tens of thousands of members.
U.S. Labor Against the War is asking organizations to contribute monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or to make a one-time donation toward the $600 monthly goal. Individuals can help with small monthly contributions or a one-time donation. Expressing our solidarity in this concrete way can help this courageous union defend the interests of Iraqi workers and Iraqi society against corporate schemes to privatize Iraq’s oil resources. Please make your check to: U.S. Labor Against the War, 1718 M Street NW #153, Washington, D.C. 20036, with “Iraqi Union Newspaper “ in the MEMO line.
‘
Catherine Pottinger,
PSARA Member, Seattle
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