No Cola For Ssd Maybe Va Comp

[calnight]

I just read today in the SF cronicle that there wil be no cola for ssd and I believe for VA comp. The article said due to low inflation that there will be no cola for ssd and ss It said nothing about VA comp but guess since there is nothing for ssd then this will be the same for va comp. Also said that there will be no cola for the next 2 years and medicade or medicare will go up to 119.00 a month. Now dont take this for word just what I read today in the SF cronicle.

[71M10]

Pete,

Is the quality of life increase scheduled for a hearing or is this just a general discussion on the commission and its findings?

Best regards,

Tyler

[Testvet]

I thought they buried the Presidential Commission when they saw that 25% and the other ideas they came up with and liked the Dole/Shalala recommendations better so the 2 years of the commission were wasted are they coming back up this summer and who is going to do the hearings the house or the senate

[Pete53]

Last I heard was the VA was given a deadline to report the quality of life which I am sure would incvlude how much it would cost,

I think it is due back by the end of summer recess.

Keep your fingers crossed they already are well aware that the pay schedule is tragically out of date and the program as it was discussed would include an opt in or grandfather position. It also would treat DIC more like insurance and pay 60% of what a Veteran is getting.

There is a lot to it. I will try to dig up the specifics.

[tagandbag]

I'm happy with what I got last year.

[JR Reihs]

This was on the news tonight......no cola for this year and possibly next year. This situation is not political, it economics 101, to say diffrent is foolish reasoning.....we all know the COLA figures are based on false presumtion, but that is the way it is, and it has been that way for many years.

We were very , very lucky to get what we got last year...a calculation based on a few months forward, we would have gotten maybe .05%.

Just set back and wait to see if all this debt will create inflation over the next 14 months.....we will be lucky if it evens out.

Edited May 5, 2009 by JR Reihs

[rentalguy1]

Pete...try not to look at this as politics, but as the plain and simple truth.

The rate of inflation is on the rise thanks solely to the bailouts of the current and former administrations, and because of the recent omnibus spending (budget) bill, which contains more spending than all other budget bills in the history of this country combined. These are facts. However, our COLA increase is not tied to inflation, but instead to the actual costs of goods and services as indexed by the government every year. The costs of goods and services are trending slowly downward due to supply and demand economics. That means there will be no COLA raise, because it is perceived that the cost of living is less than that of last year.

Now, due to new programs of the current administration, we are ALL looking at huge tax increases. This does not mean that you or your spouse will have to pay higher income taxes. Those will stay the same. The promised cut to 95% of Americans, which equaled $400 for the average taxpayer, is now off the table. The controlling party in Congress voted not to renew this bill. This, again, is not politics, but it is fact. So, your income taxes will stay the same, but you will be paying higher taxes elsewhere. If you smoke, and many disabled veterans do, you will be paying exorbitant taxes on your cigarettes. The tax on alcohol will be going up. Thanks to proposed "green" programs, your electric bill will increase by up to 50% + over the next two years. There is a proposal to increase the federal gasoline tax, as well as a proposal to add a new "per mile" tax to all automobile owners.

Lastly, while many of the things that we buy at the store will see a price decrease, many states are having to increase their sales tax rates in order to make ends meet. This is in spite of billions of dollars of taxpayer money that was given to them with a mandate to change unemployment laws (again...fact, not politics). So, in actuality, the total cost of that loaf of bread will increase over the next year even though the sticker price has been reduced. You can also expect that property tax rates will be increased. This has already happened in many areas. The states are also beginning to raise their own gas tax rates, as well.

So, even though the cost of living will decrease on paper, your actual out of pocket cost of living will increase by a substantial margin. The crux of this matter has everything to do with the fiscal policies of the current ruling party, but there is nothing that can be done about that at this point. The people asked for this, and the deserve every damn heartache that they get in return. The part of this problem that is staring us in the face, however, has nothing to do with what political affiliation you belong to. This affects republican, democrats, independents, libertarians, greens, and anyone else. If you are a disabled veteran, or if you have to survive off of SSDI, then this affects you. You need to contact your congressman and senators and let them know that all of these new tax increases need to be taken into consideration when the annual COLA package is discussed. We will need a COLA increase more than ever by next fiscal year, when these new policies become entrenched and take effect.

So, you can lock it up if you need to, Pete, but I don't think anyone can say that I went political on this post.