Everyone is concerned about Social Security reform and recent discussions that have taken place about cutting the Social Security retirement and disability benefits that workers receive. Recent proposals have been a very hot topic as of late and public interest organizations are outraged. AARP is one of the organizations that is crying out regarding the proposed changes to Social Security and Medicare benefits.
AARP, otherwise known as the American Association of Retired Persons, is a public interest group that is dedicated to enhancing life for senior citizens. As such, it is understandable that the proposed Social Security and Medicare cuts are causing the organization to worry.
Millions of Americans have paid into the Social Security system for many years. These workers expected both retirement and disability benefits to be there for them when needed. Unfortunately, it would seem that some politicians would take some of these benefits away to pay off a portion of the nation's debt. According to AARP, that is not acceptable.
According to the president of AARP, the Social Security system did not cause the national deficit and it should definitely not be used to reduce it. As such, AARP is hoping that lawmakers will reject proposals that cut into the benefits that are due to the seniors who have earned these benefits through many years of hard work and labor.
While many people understand that AARP is against using Social Security to pay off the national debt, they do not understand exactly how this would happen or what is at stake. To sum it up, many consumers don't really understand exactly what it is that has AARP up in arms.
The reason for AARP's outcry is partially due to the CPI adjustment that has been proposed recently. By adjusting the CPI (which is the Consumer Price Index), lawmakers could adjust inflation and save the government nearly $220 billion. However, a change in CPI could also change the benefits that Social Security recipients receive. A lower CPI would mean lower cost of living increases, if any increases were allotted at all. What really has AARP upset is the fact that this adjustment of the CPI would mostly affect lower-income individuals (such as those who receive Social Security retirement and disability benefits) and wouldn't really affect the wealthy at all. We would be taking benefits from the people who need them most while those who could afford a loss would not be suffering from the change. The SSA uses the CPI to calculate any cost of living adjustments.
To make matters worse, some lawmakers also want to make cuts to the Medicare program, which has already seen some changes recently. If these new laws pass, Medicare recipients may have to pay more for their Medicare coverage in the form of higher premiums or higher co-pays. Either way, AARP feels that already-struggling seniors should not have to pay for a national debt that they had nothing to do with and that changes to their medical coverage is absolutely unacceptable.
The question is whether or not AARP's outcry will have any affect on the mind of an administration that seems to be robbing America's poorer population without a second thought. Hopefully, AARP will be successful and senior citizens and disabled workers will not suffer needlessly to pay off a portion of the national debt.
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