Social Security

[sfc_oliver]

Proud to say that I made the decision to stop purchasing those coffin nails 4 years ago. After nearly 40 years.

[Towntalk]

I take it that you do not indulge in the nasty bad habit of puffing on "coffin nails" aka "sin sticks" aka a name that is not politically correct in the United States but is common in England.

[Rick Rowlands]

I do not pay the cigarette tax!   

[rusty river]

So first we place a tax on Cigarettes which effects some of the poorest Americans.

It also effects many of our richest.

[Towntalk]

Many of our members were not yet born between 1933 and 1945 and no not know about FDR's Fireside chats other than what you have been told or read about, so here is your opportunity to sit down and listen to them as they were broadcast. They are all short.

http://www.archive.org/details/fdrfiresidechat

[sfc_oliver]

Interesting. So first we place a tax on Cigarettes which effects some of the poorest Americans. Now we have some senior citizens who will be taxed on their healthcare (yes it is a tax, sort of). I can only wonder what the criteria is for those who are not protected from the increase in Part B Premiums, and how do we find out if we are protected?

[Towntalk]

There is bad news for those folks on Social Security (retirees) in 2010 (next year).

Social Security Benefits Not Expected to Rise in '10
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/us/politics/03benefits.html?_r=1&hp

For the first time in more than three decades, Social Security recipients will not get any increase in their benefits next year, federal forecasts show.

If there is no cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security, about three-fourths of beneficiaries will not see any change in their basic Part B premiums, federal officials said. But some beneficiaries do not have this protection and could face substantial increases in their Part B premiums.

Most Medicare beneficiaries pay a monthly Part B premium of $96.40. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the basic premium will rise to $119 next year and $123 in 2011 for those who are not protected under federal law.