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Coburn Pulls The Plug On Grandma's Social Security
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
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Someone forgot to remind Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that it's the Democrats' job to make Granny's life tougher. On the Senate floor yesterday, Coburn blocked a vote that would have prevented a reduction in Social Security payments next year.
Coburn stood in the way of unanimous consent to a House bill setting 2010 Medicare premiums at 2009 levels. As the National Journal reports (sub. req.), Coburn's move means "seniors are facing uncertainty over Medicare costs next year" and that "would see a net reduction in their Social Security benefits."
The back story:
The House bill, which passed 406-18 on Sept. 24, is needed to freeze monthly Part B insurance premiums, which pay for seniors' physician visits, at $96.40 next year. Those premiums are usually deducted from Social Security checks.But because of deflation, there is no Social Security cost-of-living adjustment planned for 2010 -- yet Medicare premiums are set to rise anyway to keep pace with the program's overall costs. Thus, seniors would see a net reduction in their Social Security benefits without the fix.
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DrToast
October 8, 2009 2:23 PM
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Coburn is right.
People will only see a reduction in NOMINAL dollars, but that's irrelevant. There isn't a cost of living increase because there isn't a need for one this year.
In real dollars, benefits are still increasing because prices have fallen.
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Schmed
October 8, 2009 2:27 PM in reply to DrToast
So, does Granny pay her electric bill in nominal dollars or in real dollars? Does the electric co. bill in nominal or real?
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DrToast
October 8, 2009 3:04 PM in reply to Schmed
You mean the bills that are cheaper than they were last year?
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chimpale
October 8, 2009 3:17 PM in reply to DrToast
Where did you see 2009 electric bills go down vs. 2008? Most people I know had to pay more.
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kenga
October 8, 2009 3:48 PM in reply to chimpale
I dunno about electric - I'll have to check.
But home heating oil is about 40% lower right now than it was in February.
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Alleyne
October 8, 2009 4:20 PM in reply to kenga
And this is useful for those who heat their homes in a different fashion (or not at all) how? And how much has the cost of food gone down? Or prescriptions not covered under the Medicare prescription plan? Or Medicare supplemental insurance policies? You're skirting the issue. A reduction of liquidity for some seniors is going to make already tough conditions tougher and it didn't need to happen.
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Economides
October 8, 2009 7:13 PM in reply to Alleyne
There is a reason we don't base cost of living adjustments on the personal anecdotes told by random dudes on the internet, (or lawmakers for that matter) about 1 single component of their overall spending, and use an objective standard like the CPI.
Social Security COLA's are based on the price index in the 3rd quarter of the year. Both last year's and this year's adjustments are heavily distorted by 3rd Q of 2008 when we had $4 gasoline. That means Social Security recipients got a larger than expected increase last year. But it also means they will not get another increase until prices--overall prices , not any one single component return to the 2008 3 Q level, which many expect may not happen until 2011.
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lousgirl84
October 8, 2009 5:03 PM in reply to DrToast
Are you fucking kidding me. I live in California and my electric bill went from $70 every two months to about $120 - $130 every two months.
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Ann Arbor
October 8, 2009 2:54 PM in reply to DrToast
In real dollars, benefits are likely to DECREASE because rising Medicare premiums will more than offset the small drop in other prices.
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slb
October 8, 2009 3:41 PM in reply to Ann Arbor
I'm not sure most people will even figure it that far; they're going to see a decrease in the amount of their checks, and who are they going to blame? Obama, most likely. It's certainly not likely to be Coburn, and that's why Coburn is doing it.
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Economides
October 8, 2009 7:17 PM in reply to Ann Arbor
This would be a pithy and relevant comment except for that fact that Medicare Part B premiums for 75% of recipients cannot by law increase if there is no Social Security COLA. It's called the "hold harmless" provision. The folk who will pay the higher premiums are those who are new beneficiaries and wealthier recipients who pay a much higher premium based on income. States also will have to pick up the tab--through medicaid--for certain so called "dual eligible" beneficiaries.
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acf_ma
October 8, 2009 4:53 PM in reply to DrToast
I think you may be missing a point. Social Security is not increasing because no inflation, or deflation makes an increase unnecessary. Unfortunately, the Medicare Part B premiums are going up because health costs are a part of the economy that are still inflating, with the resulting increase meaning that SS recipients will end up with a smaller monthly check. That's what the bill was about, and Coburn is blocking it in the Senate.
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JEP07
October 8, 2009 5:36 PM in reply to acf_ma
HYPOCRITES!
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Economides
October 8, 2009 7:19 PM in reply to acf_ma
No most medicare beneficiaries will be held harmless. See above. their premiums cannot increase unless there is a Social Security COLA.
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The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
October 8, 2009 2:30 PM
This comes on top of Coburn's introduction of an amendment to prevent the NSF from funding political science research.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_10/020331.php
No, seriously. He says funding survey research is a waste when we have CNN and the bloggers to tell us what's going on.
Imbecilocracy in action.
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Schmed
October 8, 2009 2:39 PM in reply to The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
That probably means it'll be a short hop to defunding the NSF altogether since they're all evolutionists and Deacon Coburn knows that the Bible has already settled that score....
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The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
October 8, 2009 3:22 PM in reply to Schmed
That was the funny part. He said they should devote the funding to "hard science." I was like "Yeah, Tom, because we know what a big booster you are of physics, cosmology, biology, geology, climatology, physical anthropology, paleontology . . . "
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Economides
October 8, 2009 7:21 PM in reply to The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
There's also a raging scandal in conservative circles because some NSF employees downloaded porn on their work computers. No doubt research for some nefarious future surveys.
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fkaZk0sm0
October 8, 2009 3:21 PM in reply to The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
thanks for the link.
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chimpale
October 8, 2009 2:38 PM
Does Coburn ever actually do anything in the Senate besides block bills?
...and handle extortion negotiations for fellow Republican senators who get caught doing favors for the husbands of their mistresses?
Oh, that's right. I forgot that he's also a clergyman for his fellow GOP weasels and therefore doesn't have to divulge the ethical and legal transgressions of his buddies. He can just help them try to bury them with hush money.
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