Our
View: Cost of living to exceed pension
Since
Social Security was started as part of the
New Deal, people have looked forward to
their "golden years" with the
knowledge that if nothing else a small check
from the government will come to them for
all the years they have paid toward it.
In
recent years Social Security has been surrounded
by uncertainty as politicians continually
borrow out of or borrow against Social Security.
Most people of our generation and even our
parents generation are pretty unsure whether
or not by the time we all get to the receiving
age, there will be anything left of our
precious Social Security.
But
for the elderly and disabled who are receiving
it now, the situation can sometimes seem
dire. As the prices of consumer goods, gasoline
and electricity fluctuate with balloons
and dips, their income remains fixed. This
makes real security almost unattainable.
Now
the politicians come out and acknowledge
that the cost of living has gone up 2.1
percent, big surprise. In some areas it's
much more than that. If the elderly or disabled
are renting in Southern California or have
a mortgage to pay, hopefully they have some
nice jewelry to sell, because the cost of
living is flying high.
So
how has the government come out to help
save the elderly and disabled? How do they
plan to combat the inevitably continuous
rise in the cost of living?
Good
question. They're going to increase the
monthly income of Social Security by $19
a month. Yep, a whole $19 a month. All those
elderly people are going to be cruising
around in Mercedes Benzes.
The
fact that the way the government decided
to combat the rise in the cost of livings
effect on the elderly and disabled is to
first increase Social Security by a whole
$19 and then to increase the cost of Medicare
by 13.5 percent. Now that's comedy.
So,
to combat the 2.1 percent increase in the
cost of living they will, as an end result,
gain a whole $11 towards their budget. Congratulations
to the bigwigs behind that deal and congratulations
on the $19.
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