Retirees and the Bush Legacy

Retirees and the Bush Legacy
Commentary By David Friesner

Americans United for Change visited cities in Ohio at the end of June with its Bush Legacy Bus tour. The Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans takes this moment with you to reflect on the last eight years.

What has the Bush Presidency left behind for seniors and retirees? Let’s begin with the economy. Between the rising cost of living and the devalued dollar it is hard to get by on a fixed income. Most of our incomes are fixed because there have been no increases in most retirement plans since he has taken office and economy spiraled downward.

George Bush said he was going to help us by privatizing Social Security in 2005, a plan that would have bankrupted the system. He says it is broken. But, Social Security has never missed a payment in 70+ years. It is a good enough system that they borrowed over $170 billion of “surplus funds” to help pay for Iraq. You don’t suppose that has anything to do with the fund going broke?

The Bush Administration also gave us the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. This bill was written by the Pharmaceutical and Insurance industries. It was forced through in the middle of the night and has been trouble for seniors ever since. We asked for a prescription drug program but what we got was a program that limits pricing competition, prohibits price negotiation, and gave us the donut hole. This bill also created Medicare Advantage plans that are private companies providing Medicare coverage. We have no problem with private companies as long as the price is the same. These plans get from 12% to 19% more for the same services that Medicare provides and some don’t even offer the same services. This works out to $1000 for every person in a Medicare Advantage plan. So for 1000 members it is an extra $1 million dollars, last year Medicare Advantage companies received an extra $2 billion.

Then we have the area of retirement security. As if the threat of losing Social Security is not enough, there has been an attack on private pensions. This administration has allowed corporations to under fund these plans. Then, when the companies file for bankruptcy, the workers get pennies on the dollar while the CEO’s and other receive millions in bonuses. When the PBGC takes over a plan it automatically cuts payments and then tries to work settlements that have yet to benefit the workers.

A good example is one of the steel plants in Canton that closed in 2001. The closing was set as August of 2002 and the pensions were paid from that date but the company negotiated with the bankruptcy court and the PBGC to move the closing date to 2004. What this did was eliminate tenure for a lot of the people. Over 1000 workers had their pensions reduced some from $1700 to $150 a month and if that is not bad enough these workers will be required to pay that money back to the government. Their pensions will now have 10% a month withheld until all back payments are met. The PBGC in its graciousness and kindness has stated that if you should die before all the monies are paid back they will forgive the debt.

Will we remember the Bush Presidency and the legacy he leaves behind, you bet we do.