News

During debate on the bill, it was proposed that Washington's Birthday be renamed Presidents' Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln ; although Lincoln's birthday was celebrated in many states, it was never an official federal holiday. Following much discussion, Congress rejected the name change. After the bill went into effect in 1971, however, Presidents' Day became the commonly accepted name, due in part to retailers' use of that name to promote sales and the holiday's proximity to Lincoln's birthday. Presidents' Day is usually marked by public ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country..The high dose vaccine contains four times the amount of antigen as a regular flu shot. It is associated with a stronger immune response following vaccination. Results from a clinical trial of more than 30,000 participants showed that adults 65 years and older who received the high dose vaccine had 24% fewer influenza illnesses as compared to those who received the standard dose flu vaccine. The high dose vaccine has been approved for use in the United States since 200Learn more about high dose flu vaccine here..This study has found that Social Security benefits tend to lose buying power over time, because prices of the goods and services most frequently purchased by older Americans tend to increase more quickly than the COLA. In this year's study, price data indicate that Social Security benefits lost 30 percent of buying power since 2000. The 2020 findings represent an improvement in benefit buying power of 3 percentage points from January 2000 through January 2020. Several items came down in price, particularly electricity, as well as a few food items including fresh fruits and vegetables.."But all bets would be off if the current payroll tax system is eliminated, or changed to something else," Johnson says. Getting rid of the payroll tax raises a great many questions as to how benefits would be calculated. Currently, retirement benefits are calculated on the 35 years of highest earnings. "Because wages tend to grow over time, replacing the current system with something else could mean lower benefits," Johnson points out..TSCL encourages you to stay informed and ask questions about any and all issues that matter to you! Our site offers information on how to contact your Member of Congress, weekly and monthly legislative updates, petitions, and congressional responses to our petitions. Simply click on the links on the right-hand side of your screen..In addition, Wall Street analysts were skeptical that the orders would have much effect on drug makers and said they could prove difficult to implement in practice..Currently, Social Security COLAs are based on the way young, urban workers spend their money not the way Social Security beneficiaries do. As a result, goods and services like gasoline and electronics are weighted more heavily than housing and health care two of the fastest growing costs for older Americans. If the COLA were actually based on the way retirees spend their money using the more accurate CPI-E, Social Security beneficiaries would not be receiving a 0.3 percent COLA in 2017, they would be receiving a 2.1 percent increase, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics..About four million seniors born from 1917 through 1926, commonly referred to as "Notch Babies," would receive their choice of a ,000 lump-sum payable in four annual installments, or higher monthly Social Security benefits. The legislation, known as "The Notch Fairness Act" seeks to correct a disparity in benefits caused the last time Congress overhauled the benefit formula in 1977, that began to affect seniors who started to retire just two years later..Reducing wait times. Inadequate funding and a growing hearing backlog have resulted in many DI applicants waiting longer than 600 days to be approved for the program. That's longer than some of them will live. All applicants deserve decisions on their benefit eligibility in a timely manner, and wait times of two years are simply unacceptable.