I am going to piss off a lot of Freepers here, but here is what I believe.
1. There should be no cost of living increases for military, social security, and other retirements. The military accepted a 50% pension for the rest of their lives, not a 50% with COLA.
2. Same with Social Security, there should be no COLA.
Now I expect almost total support on this: Congress needs to live under the laws they passed, which means Obamacare and Social Security, not special programs.
Needs to be the next amendment to the Constitution, all pols must live by the laws they write and pass for the unwashed masses.
I would be curious if the Civil Service COLA has charted the same course as retirees on Social Security or military retirement.
I believe that I saw where food stamps and other welfare (especially Section 8 housing and “refugee” payments) are up much more than the COLA for SS recipients.
I paid into SS for 50 years. If I had been able to invest the same amount in my own retirement investments, I would have accumulated 10X to 20X what the government is going to return to me in my just-started retirement. The taxes I would have paid on my personal savings alone would probably have exceeded the amount I will get paid out.
AND, I would get to bequeath whatever I didn’t spend to my kids rather than getting no payout when I die. SS is thoroughly corrupt for responsible citizens who plan their futures.
So you are going to begrudge a paltry 1% or 2% COLA?
“Congress needs to live under the laws they passed...”
This change alone would guarantee we return to the land of the free; the home of the brave.
Now that you mention that maybe We the People should focus on and demand this be the law of the land (maybe we should have been doing that from the beginning).
Actually, the law IS written with a COLA.
So they did accept a retirement with COLA.
Just facts.
and if they can't seem to pull up their big boy pants on that one, at least only allow pension at age 60 or 62.....
IF you want those restrictions-—You would have to match it with price freezes.
I am on Soc Sec. 4 times in 8 years, Obama gave us ZERO, I got a .3 (POINT 3) percent increase for this year—amounted to exactly $4. My telephone (landline only-—no Cell Phone !) went up $7 a month. My vehicle insurance went up-again- thanks to the illegal rivers in Nevada who have been given licenses. My last accident was Oct 1966 & my last ticket was somewhere around 1997-—no seat belt. My property taxes go up a limited 3% a year by state law, so that went up $17.52 from $676.11 last year. Whole year of property tax. Gas is still around $2.75 a gallon & I only drove 1960 miles in 2016. Everything is thought out twice..... Trips are always multiple stops—usually on Soc Sec payday.
So-—I got $48 from COLA increases-—
minus $17.62 for taxes—
minus bout $84 for the phone increases
minus about $8 a month for vehicle insurance or $96/year.
Thanks, Obama, I am in the hole $149.62....
Tell me again about no COLA for those of us on Soc Sec? Please use small words——I really did only go to a ONE ROOM SCHOOL...REALLY!!!
Actually, I’d prefer just to see that you can’t collect on a pension until you hit retirement age (say 60 or so, rather than being able to at like 40) and I’d move up the age of SS from 67 to 70 over a period of like 12 years (3mo/yr push back)
Actually they did.
And it is not 50% any more. It is 40%.
And only 17% ever get a pension. The rest get zip.
But not as much on COLA. If I could still buy a 1960's size Hershey bar for 10 cents, I'd agree.
But as long as Congress lets the Fed drive the dollar down to trash, the COLA is needed as a bandaid on the problem of inflation.