Born and raised in Minnesota, Larry Madison moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1987 with his family to pursue a career as a copywriter and account executive at The Viguerie Company, a nationally known political fund-raising firm. After three years at TVC, he left to become head of fund raising for the American Defense Institute, and then for the American Security Council, both non-profit organizations involved in supporting a strong national defense..Sen. Kerry's bill, if signed into law, would amend the Social Security Act to repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision. These two provisions unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. TSCL believes that Congress should repeal the GPO and the WEP so that dedicated public servants receive the retirement security they deserve..Are benefit cuts inevitable when Social Security's financing runs low in a few years? Your participation in this November's presidential election will play a critical role in how this question will be answered..The bill calls for an "average" COLA increase, which according to our calculations would equal about 3%. For retirees with an average monthly benefit of ,153 in 2009, that would be an increase of .60 per month - an additional 5.20 in 200TSCL believes that could offset rising Medicare Part B and Part D premium increases for almost every senior, and may help offset some other out-of-pocket health care cost increases as well..TSCL sent a letter to House and Senate leaders asking for their support for a more fair and adequate Social Security COLA. Stated TSCL's Chairman Arthur Cooper, "Eighty-six percent of TSCL's members and supporters believe Congress must pass legislation tying the annual COLA to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. Doing so would more accurately base COLAs on the spending patterns of seniors instead of the spending patterns of young, urban workers, and would go a long way in improving the adequacy of Social Security benefits.".The big difference between the CPI-W used to calculate your COLA, and the CPI-E, is the weight or portion of income that the Bureau of Labor Statistics gives to each category. While seniors occasionally benefit from the heavier weighting of transportation costs and food costs under the CPI-W when food and gasoline prices spike, in the majority of years they fall behind due to the lower weighting of medical care..Cuts to Meals On Wheels Having "Devastating Impact".The deduction is especially important to people age 65 and over, since spending on medical expenses increases with age, and healthcare costs can be considerable. About 23 percent of participants in The Senior Citizens League's 2018 Senior Survey said they routinely itemize medical expenses. A recent report from the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation says that Medicare households spent on average ,355 in 2016 on healthcare costs that Medicare doesn't cover. That's equivalent to ,700 in 2018 adjusting for inflation..Suppose, for example, that an illegal immigrant works for 13 years under an invalid Social Security number, but then gains legal status and works another 22 years under a valid Social Security number. The earnings under the invalid SSN are reinstated under the new work-authorized Social Security number because the individual kept W2s. Thirteen years of earnings would be more than enough to become qualified for Social Security. In this case, 13 years of illegal work would form one-third of the earnings that are used to determine the individual's basic Social Security benefit. This scenario isn't as unlikely as you might think. A major national pro-immigration reform advocacy organization counsels "undocumented" workers to save their pay stubs and W2s "in case their legal status changes."
