Congressional Pay Grows 15 Times Faster Than Social Security Checks

/PRNewswire/ -- Seniors who retired in 1990 with the average Social Security benefit have seen their annual payments increase by just $4,967 over the past 20 years. During the same time period, members of Congress have awarded themselves pay raises totaling $77,400 per year - a whopping 1,458 percent more than seniors.

The analysis was conducted by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors advocacy groups with 1.2 million supporters.

According to the Social Security Administration, a senior receiving the average Social Security benefit in 1990 received $554.50 per month. A TSCL analysis found that the same senior is receiving a monthly benefit of $968.40 today, due to the annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) intended to help seniors keep up with inflation.

ANNUAL PAY IN ANNUAL PAY IN                 % MORE THAN
                   1990          2010          INCREASE,       SENIORS
                                               1990 - 2010
                                               (IN DOLLARS)

   AVERAGE SENIOR         $6,654       $11,621          $4,967         N/A
  SOCIAL SECURITY
     (RETIRED IN
        1990)

      HOUSE OF
   REPRESENTATIVES       $96,600      $174,000         $77,400       1,458%


      SENATORS           $98,400      $174,000         $75,600       1,422%

*Note: Members of the House of Representatives have had a greater salary increase than Senators since 1990 because their base pay in 1990 was slightly lower.

For the first time since the automatic Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was introduced in 1975, seniors are receiving no COLA this year. Lawmakers, however, receive an automatic pay raise each year without having to cast a vote for it; instead, they would have to vote to block their annual pay raise. Lawmakers continue to enjoy massive wealth - a 2008 study by the Center for Responsive Politics reported that fully 61 of 100 senators were millionaires.

"This is a perfect example of the two types of rules we've gotten too used to seeing - those that politicians make for themselves, and those they make for the rest of us," said Daniel O'Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League. "As lawmakers enjoy their six-figure incomes, they've too often turned a blind eye to the desperate plight of America's seniors, who are struggling harder than ever to make ends meet."

TSCL supports H.R. 4720, the "Taking Responsibility for Congressional Pay Act," introduced by Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. The bill currently has 27 co-sponsors.

The proposal would cut congressional pay by five percent next year, representing the first pay cut for lawmakers since the Great Depression. The $8,700-per-lawmaker cut would save taxpayers more than $4.6 million.

TSCL encourages its members to contact their lawmakers and request that they co-sponsor the bill.

"Although the majority of lawmakers are happy with the status quo, more than two dozen have already supported a congressional pay cut. We believe that these lawmakers - truly great role models who are willing to endure personal sacrifice during these difficult economic times - deserve our gratitude," said Shannon Benton, TSCL's executive director. "Therefore, we will post the names of all of this bill's supporters to our website, at www.SeniorsLeague.org."

With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League (www.SeniorsLeague.org) is one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. TSCL is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association.

Senate Inaction On Medicare Hurts Seniors, Military and Boomers

/PRNewswire/ -- A Medicare meltdown now seems certain, as the U.S. Senate has left early for the weekend, abandoning seniors, military families and baby boomers. The Senate failed to repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will cause a drastic 21 percent payment cut to physicians who care for Medicare and TRICARE patients. On Monday, the 21 percent cut goes into effect, forcing physicians to consider the difficult decision to limit the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they see in order to keep their practice doors open.

"Our message to the U.S. Senate is stop playing games with Medicare patients and the physicians who care for them," said AMA President J. James Rohack, M.D. "It is shocking that the Senate would abandon our most vulnerable patients, making them the collateral damage of their procedural games."

Already, about one in four Medicare patients seeking a primary care physician is having trouble finding one, according to MedPAC, Congress' advisory body on Medicare. Physicians have told AMA that steep Medicare cuts will force them to limit the number of Medicare patients they treat. A new 2010 survey of neurosurgeons found that 60 percent are already reducing the number of Medicare patients in their practices, and cuts will force nearly 40 percent to decrease the number of new Medicare patients they see. More than 18 percent of neurosurgeons will no longer take new Medicare patients.

"The Senate had more than a year to repeal the formula and ensure the security and stability of Medicare and TRICARE, but that opportunity has been squandered," Dr. Rohack said. "This drastic cut will hurt our senior, disabled and military patients, as well as baby boomers who start entering the Medicare program next year."

"Last November, the U.S. House passed legislation (H.R. 3961) that would repeal the broken formula and better update payments to reflect the increasing cost of care," Dr. Rohack said. "AARP and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) have joined with the AMA in calling on the Senate to act, but the Senate has turned its back on America's seniors, military families and baby boomers."

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ATR: The Individual Mandate Excise Tax is a Tax

/PRNewswire/ -- A close reading of President Obama's healthcare plan finds several terms to describe the tax Americans will pay if they choose not to purchase qualifying health insurance. These terms include "payment," "assessment," and "individual responsibility."

-- This same tax has also variously been referred to as a "penalty," a
"fee," or a "fine." In fact, it's none of those things, precisely.
It's a tax. The various synonyms used are designed to hide that
simple fact. The reason for wanting to do so is clear: since this tax
would be assigned to any uninsured American (including those making
less than $250,000 per year), it's a pretty apparent violation of the
President's promise not to raise "any form" of taxes on working
families.
-- The evidence that this tax on the uninsured is in fact a tax comes
from a thorough reading of the Senate healthcare bill's uninsurance
tax section (which the Obama plan specifically says it is starting
from).
-- Page 322 of the Senate bill (the "Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act") says that "any penalty imposed by this section with respect
to any month shall be included with a taxpayer's return under Chapter
1 [of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)] for the taxable year which
includes such month." The procedure to collect the tax on page 336 of
the bill references Chapter 68 of the IRC. On page 337 of the bill, a
new Chapter 48 is added to Subtitle D of the Code (Miscellaneous
Excise Taxes) in order to create the uninsurance tax. Page 341 of the
bill continues to reference various parts of the Code that need to be
amended in order to cover this new tax.
-- Anyone reading this precise legislative language can see how this tax
would be collected. An uninsured individual would add the excise tax
to their regular income tax burden on the 1040 Form every April. It
is much like other excise taxes collected on the 1040 (early IRA
withdrawal tax, for example).


Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases.

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