Over 65 - Better get a job

See what Bush and the Republicans have in store for you

Progress Report - On September 16, President Bush made a vague promise to "cut unnecessary spending" to pay for reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Yesterday, he specified what spending he considers "unnecessary." At a press conference on the White House law, Bush said he will ask Congress to "make even deeper reductions in the mandatory spending programs than are already planned." The major mandatory spending programs are Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. (The category also includes a few smaller program related to income security such as unemployment insurance and school lunches.) In other words, President Bush want the the poor, the sick and the elderly to pay for Katrina reconstruction by giving up their health care and retirement security. Meanwhile, the President is pressing forward with billions in new tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

The President is talking about enacting the House Republican Study Committee's proposals of cutting middle and low income programs while continueing and expanding tax cuts for those who make over $200,000.

Here is a study of their proposals which Bush supports 100%.

The Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center has reported that the tax cuts enacted in this decade are reducing the taxes of people who earn more than $1 million a year (the top 0.2 percent of taxpayers) by an average of $103,000 this year.

The RSC proposals do not suggest deferring or shelving two tax-cut measures enacted in 2001 that are not yet in effect, will start taking effect on January 1, 2006, and will benefit only people at high income levels. The Tax Policy Center reports that 97 percent of the tax-cut benefits from these two new tax cuts will go to people with incomes that exceed $200,000 a year, and that a majority of these tax cuts will go to people who make over $1 million a year. This will be on top of the $103,000 in average annual tax cuts these individuals are already receiving.

How does this effect some older people -

Consider, for example, the effects of the RSC’s Medicare proposals on a 70-year old couple living on Social Security benefits of $17,250 in 2005, the average benefit level for a retired worker and spouse. In addition to waiting a year to begin receiving the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, the couple’s Medicare Part B premium costs would be raised from $2,124 in 2006 to $2,549 a year, an increase of $425. And if the couple were among the 79 percent of Medicare beneficiaries that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would face higher deductibles and co-payment charges under the RSC proposal, the couple would pay an additional $1,300 in co-payments in 2006, as well. The RSC Medicare proposals thus would cost such a couple $1,725 in 2006, or nearly 10 percent of its modest income. Over five years, this couple would have to pay about $10,000 more out of its own pocket for these health care services. (Because Medicare costs are growing faster than inflation, the additional costs imposed by the RSC proposal would, on average, grow faster than the couple’s Social Security benefits and this would eat up a larger share of the couple’s income with each passing year.)

Why do many of these people keep voting for Republicans who love screwing them over to reward their much richer real friends?