Tag Archives: Social Security

We need your help. Washington Senator Patty Murray is one of just 12 members of the very powerful congressional super-committee charged with deciding how to cut the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over ten years. Time is short — the committee faces a deadline of November 23 — and the stakes are high.

Various proposals before the super-committee would reduce Social Security benefits and cut Medicare and Medicaid by as much as $685 billion. Each of these vital programs provides income security and health care to millions of Americans — mostly women.

Senator Murray needs to hear from you now! Over the next couple of weeks, the handful of members on the super-committee will decide the fate of these and other vital programs.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray:

– Oppose cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. That includes no Social Security COLA cut, no increase in the Medicare retirement age, and no slash in Medicaid funds.
– Protect other safety net programs for low-income Americans.
– Any deal must be balanced. NO additional spending cuts should be considered unless they are matched with equal amounts of new tax revenues. It’s time to make millionaires and corporations contribute to deficit reduction by paying their fair share of taxes.
Women in Washington state can’t afford to lose Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. The average Social Security benefit for older women in Washington is just $12,400 per year. Even with Medicare, women often face higher out-of-pocket health care costs that strain lower incomes. And nearly 307,200 low-income women with disabilities, pregnant women, and parents in Washington relied on Medicaid for health care coverage, and nearly 60,600 elders relied on Medicaid for help with long-term care and other health expenses.

In Washington state and across the country, programs for women and their families have already been cut. But so far, tax breaks for millionaires and corporations haven’t been touched. We can’t balance the budget on the backs of women and their families. Please make a call today to demand that those with the greatest ability to pay contribute their fair share.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray: Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The super-committee is meeting now, mostly in secret, to develop its plan. But time is ticking away. Help us protect critical programs for women and families by taking action TODAY!

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center

Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

AFL – CIO

11/03/2011 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

According to press reports, Democrats on Congress’s debt reduction
“super committee” proposed hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to
Social Security and Medicare benefits, as well as Medicaid, while
Republicans proposed even bigger and more harmful cuts to these
essential middle-class benefits.AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka recorded a video message to fill you in on what’s happening and
what you can do. Please watch right away.

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The
debt reduction “super committee” that’s considering these cuts is no
ordinary congressional committee. It is empowered by law to propose
legislation that cannot be amended and can be rammed through Congress
quickly, with minimal debate. That’s why we need you to get your friends
involved.

Once you’ve watched President Trumka’s video, be sure to share it on Facebook and Twitter with your friends and family.

And stay alert. We may soon need you to take action to save the middle class. Hours or even minutes could matter. We are the 99%, and Congress needs to represent us. It’s that simple.

In Solidarity,

Manny Herrmann

Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell Senator Murray: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

11/01/2011 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

National Women's Law Center - Don't Discount Women: Demand Fair Change Not Spare Change


	Tell Senator Murray: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid



	If you want to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, now is the time to act, and Senator Murray is the one to call.

	Call 1-866-251-4044 today!

Senator Patty Murray is the co-chair of a very powerful 12-member super-committee in Congress charged with deciding how to cut the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over ten years.

Just yesterday we learned that the super-committee is negotiating about cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. These program provide income security or health care to more than 1 out of 7 Washington residents — mostly women.

Your phone call today can make a difference! A handful of members of Congress serving on the super-committee will decide the fate of these programs. Your senator — Patty Murray — is one of them.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray:

I want Senator Murray to oppose cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the super-committee.
That includes no Social Security COLA cut.
No raising the Medicare eligibility age.
No slash in Medicaid funds.
It’s time to make millionaires and corporations contribute to deficit reduction by paying their fair share of taxes.

Women in Washington can’t afford cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The average Social Security benefit for older women in Washington is just $12,400 per year. Even with Medicare, women face higher out-of-pocket health care costs that strain their smaller incomes. And over 307,000 low-income women with disabilities, pregnant women, and mothers in Washington relied on Medicaid for health care coverage, and over 60,000 elderly women relied on Medicaid for help with long-term care and certain other health expenses.

Programs for women and their families have already been cut, in Washington State and across the country — but so far, tax breaks for millionaires and corporations haven’t been touched. It’s time to stop trying to balance the budget on the backs of women and their families, and to demand that those with the greatest ability to pay contribute their fair share.

Please call 1-866-251-4044 today to tell Senator Murray: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The super-committee is meeting now to develop its plan. If seven members agree, their plan will be voted on in Congress before the end of the year: no amendments, no filibusters. If you want to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, now is the time to act, and Senator Murray is the one to call.

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center

Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Have friends in Washington state? Please forward them this email. Every call makes a difference.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell Congress: No cuts to Medicare benefits

10/28/2011 Nativegrl77

Democrats on the so-called Super Committee are caving to Republican demands and pushing a plan that would make drastic cuts to Medicare.

This is bad policy and bad politics. Cuts like these are the worst possible way to reduce the deficit. They protect the status quo for the richest 1 percent while the 99 percent are expected to sacrifice vital healthcare that they need to survive in tough economic times like these — and they’ll hamstring Democrats running for reelection in 2012.

We’ve been down this road before. Republicans and some Democrats have been pushing plans to destroy Medicare and Social Security for months. We beat them then and we can beat them now with an overwhelming show of grassroots opposition to any plan that cuts Medicare.

Join me and tell Washington that this deal is Dead On Arrival.

Pledge to oppose any candidate — Republican or Democrat – who votes for a plan that cuts Medicare and Medicaid benefits for the 99 percent.

The facts are simple: The average income of Medicare beneficiaries is about $22,000 a year. Our nation’s seniors can’t afford to have their benefits cut and hard-working Americans can’t afford to have their eligibility for Medicare raised to 67.

As more and more people lose employer-provided health insurance, the last thing the nation’s seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income children who depend on Medicaid need is for the federal government to slash these vital programs.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid did not cause the run-up in federal deficits. We have President Bush’s huge tax cuts for the top 1 percent, the unpaid costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the Great Recession caused by reckless, un-American, and potentially criminal behavior on Wall Street to thank for the mess we’re in.

Washington needs to make sure those who caused this mess pay to clean it up — not seniors, not Americans with disabilities, and certainly not low-income children who depend on Medicaid to survive.

Send a message to Washington now — Stand against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security or stand alone for reelection.

This is a fight we will win, if we stand up and fight. Because when we work together, we’re unstoppable.

Thank you for everything you do.

-Jim

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

‘No Child Left Behind’ Overhaul Will Benefit Washington State Students and Schools

10/25/2011 Nativegrl77

‘No Child Left Behind’ Overhaul Will Benefit Washington
State Students and Schools

This week, I worked hard to pass a major education bill
through committee that addresses the concerns that I have heard over and over
from parents and schools across Washington state This bipartisan legislation is
a strong step in the right direction for Washington state students. Although
it’s not perfect, it is the result of true bipartisan compromise. This
legislation builds on what is working in our schools, and it gives districts
and schools across our state the tools and flexibility they need to offer every
student the opportunity to get the education and skills they need to fill the
jobs of the 21 ^st century.

I am going to keep working to pass this bill into law and
improve education for students and schools in Washington state and across the
country. I worked closely with my colleagues on the HELP committee as this
legislation was written, and a few key pieces are based on bills I have
introduced, including a comprehensive literacy section based on my LEARN Act and a high school reform program that
focuses on career pathways based on legislation I introduced earlier this year.

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Bringing Our Soldiers Home from Iraq

On Friday, the President announced a full troop withdrawal
from Iraq after nine years of war there. The announcement marks a bittersweet
milestone in a war that has cost our nation dearly but has also repeatedly
reminded us of the courage, sacrifice, and selflessness of our nation’s men and
women in uniform. Our troops and their families have done everything we’ve
asked of them and more. Now, more than ever, it’s time to ensure that we are
keeping up our end of the promise to provide the health care, benefits, and
opportunities our service members deserve as they return from the battlefields
of Iraq to communities across Washington state and the nation.

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WA Seniors, Veterans to Benefit from Cost of Living
Adjustment

Last week, it was announced that there will be an automatic
cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 3.6 percent for Social Security benefits
beginning next year. This is the first COLA since 2009. This is long-awaited
good news for Washington state seniors who, for the past few years, have been struggling
to make ends meet without an increase. Social Security has provided millions of
seniors with a foundation of economic security and lifted millions more out of
poverty. This announcement shows our seniors that this vital program is working
for them at a time when they need it the most.

Veterans Sharing in Cost of Living Increase

Last week I also helped pass a bill to provide a COLA
adjustment for America’s veterans. The Veterans COLA legislation, which I
sponsored, will affect several important benefits, including veterans’
disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving
spouses and children. It is projected that over 3.9 million veterans and
survivors will receive compensation benefits in Fiscal Year 2012. A cost-of-living
increase for our veterans is long overdue and well deserved. Particularly in
this difficult economy, our veterans deserve a boost in their benefits. This is
an important step for our veterans, especially on the heels of the news that a
COLA will be provided for the first time since 2009.

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President Obama’s Jobs Bill

The Washington state families that are living this jobs
crisis can’t afford politics as usual. When I talk to those who are searching
every day for a paycheck to support their families, it’s clear that they don’t
care who gets credit for job creation efforts or whose election chances it
might bolster. Their only questions are: ‘Will it work?’ ‘Will it impact my
life?’ and ‘When will I begin to see relief?’

Two weeks ago, President Obama introduced his plan for
fixing America’s jobs crisis. Unfortunately, the plan was voted down by
Republicans in Congress. Despite this setback we will not allow partisan
politics to get in the way of helping those who need it most. That is why I am
continuing to fight for the plan the President has put forward – piece by piece
if need be. I’m going to continue to work to ensure we push job-creating
measures, including investing in repairing and rebuilding our crumbling and
congested infrastructure, hiring our nation’s veterans, and retraining those
workers who were left behind by a recession they didn’t cause but are still
reeling from.

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Calling on VA to Provide Critical Answers about Military Sexual Trauma Data

Last week, I joined my colleague U.S. Senator Jon Tester in sending a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey about the critical need to clarify VA’s disability claims process related to Military Sexual Trauma (MST). Far too many servicemembers, both men and women, are returning home from service carrying the devastating wounds that result from MST. After sacrificing so much to serve their county, they often face tremendous challenges in obtaining the services and benefits they desperately need. That is why we urged VA to take further action to ensure that veterans who suffer disabilities related to MST will have their claims properly decided. Our letter requests explicit guarantees that concerns about the ability to correctly identify and adjudicate claims for disabilities based on MST are immediately addressed by Veterans Benefits Administration.

Speaking Out Against Bullying

On Thursday, October 20 ^th, my staff and I wore purple in recognition of Spirit Day and to speak out against the bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.