Action

A letter from Bernie Sanders


Dear George,


They’re at it again.


Billionaires like the Koch Brothers, Pete Peterson, Stanley Druckenmiller and others are leading the charge to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.


If they succeed, millions of senior citizens, working families, disabled veterans and children will suffer. We must not allow that to happen.


Today, the middle class is disappearing, real unemployment is extremely high, poverty is increasing and working families throughout the country are struggling to keep their heads above water economically. Meanwhile, the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider and wider and the wealthiest people and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well.


We must not balance the budget on the backs of working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor.


As Vermont’s senator, I have the honor of serving on the Budget Conference Committee which will be negotiating a new federal budget over the next few months — and where I am fearful that a deal could be struck to slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.


As the founder of the Defending Social Security Caucus, please stand with me, our friends at Social Security Works and our coalition partners in demanding; “No grand bargain in exchange for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.”


Let’s be clear. Despite right-wing rhetoric:



  • Social Security is not going broke. According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security has a surplus today of $2.8 trillion and can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible person for the next 20 years.

  • Social Security has not contributed to the deficit. Social Security is funded independently by FICA taxes which are paid by workers and their employers.
Sign this petition.

The so-called chained-CPI, which recalculates how COLA’s are formulated, is not a “modest tweak.” If the chained CPI went into effect today, a senior aged 65 would receive $658 a year less in Social Security benefits when he/she is 75, and $1,100 a year less at age 85. Further, the average disabled veteran would lose tens of thousands of dollars in benefits over his/her lifetime.


Please stand with me today and demand that Congress and the President oppose any grand bargain which cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.


When one out of four U.S. corporations pay nothing in federal income taxes; when Bush’s tax breaks for the rich remain in place for many wealthy Americans; when the U.S. spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on defense, there are much fairer and economically sound ways to address the budget than cutting programs desperately needed by the most vulnerable people in our country.


Please stand with me and Campaign for America’s Future in protecting the future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.


Let’s go forward together. Thanks for your continued support.


Sincerely,


Bernie Sanders
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders

Action, Political

A Tax Increase Republicans Support


Here’s a tax increase Republican lawmakers support




Associated Press
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER 22 minutes ago

Graphic shows several examples of how health coverage might change for different people; 6c x 10 inches; 295.2 mm x 254 mm;
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View gallery


Graphic shows several examples of how health coverage might change for different people; 6c x 10 inches; …



WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress don’t usually fight for tax increases, especially ones that are part of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
     But GOP senators balked when Democrats proposed delaying a new temporary fee on everyone covered by health insurance.
     So employers, insurance companies and other health plan sponsors are in line to pay $63 a person next year for everyone who has coverage. The temporary fee covers all workers, spouses and dependents covered by health insurance.
     Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., proposed delaying the fee in recent budget talks with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. McConnell and other Republican senators objected; the fee was left intact.
     GOP senators complained the delay was basically a favor for labor unions, traditional Democratic allies that oppose the new fee.
     “It’s beyond ironic that the mantra from the president and the Democrats has been, ‘There can’t be any changes to Obamacare. After all, it’s the law of the land,'” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. “And then big labor comes along and wants a change and, lo and behold, there’s got to be a change.”
     But also opposing the fee are large employers, traditional Republican allies, even though in many cases the fee probably will be passed on to workers.
     “It’s a sizable expense. For some of my employers it’s millions of dollars a year and we don’t get anything from it,” said Gretchen Young, senior vice president for health policy at the ERISA Industry Committee, a group that represents large employers on benefits issues. “It’s definitely not solely a union issue.”
     Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said the proposed delay was meant to balance Republican demands for other changes to the health law. Republicans in Congress have been attacking the law since it was passed in 2010, and earlier this month, they forced a partial government shutdown over Obama’s refusal to negotiate changes.
     Cardin said he didn’t want any changes in the law to be part of the deal for reopening the government and extending the country’s ability to borrow. In the end, the only change was an income verification procedure for people applying for tax credits to help them purchase health insurance.
     The temporary fee on people with health insurance is designed to raise $25 billion over the next three years.
     The money will provide a cushion for insurers from the initial hard-to-predict costs of covering previously uninsured people with medical problems. Under the law, insurers will be forbidden, effective Jan. 1, 2014, to turn away applicants who are ill.



View gallery.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, …

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, left, talks with Dr. Norma Parra, right, afte …

     Insurance companies hit by unexpectedly high costs for insuring people with medical conditions will be able to tap the fund, which will be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. The fund will mainly benefit companies participating in state-based health insurance exchanges.
     The fee will total $12 billion in 2014, $8 billion in 2015 and $5 billion in 2016. That means the per-head assessment would be smaller each year, around $40 in 2015 instead of $63.
     It is being assessed on all “major medical” insurance plans, including those provided by employers and those purchased individually by consumers. About 150 million workers, spouses and dependents are covered under employer-sponsored health plans.
     Large employers will pay the fee directly. That’s because major companies are usually self-insured, with the health insurance company that workers deal with basically acting as an agent administering the plan.
     Unions that operate multi-employer health plans also will pay the fee. More than 20 million union workers and family members are covered by such plans.
     These unions and large employers argue that they shouldn’t have to pay the fee because they won’t benefit from the fund.
     The AFL-CIO passed a resolution at its convention this year calling for the fee to be repealed. Large employers are also fighting the fee. But, Young noted, the political atmosphere in Congress, especially when it comes to the health care law, will make it difficult to win any changes.
     “The Affordable Care Act is now kind of a third rail,” said Young, referring to the law’s formal name. “If it wasn’t before, it is even more so now.”

Political

True?


One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door. Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen doughnuts waiting for him at his door. Then a Member of Congress came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Member of Congress was very happy and left the shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Members of Congress lined up waiting for a free haircut. And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it. Please share this.


One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, ‘I cannot accept money from you, I’m doing com…munity service this week.’ The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door. Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, ‘I cannot accept money from you, I’m doing community service this week.’ The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen doughnuts waiting for him at his door. Then a Member of Congress came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, ‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’ The Member of Congress was very happy and left the shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Members of Congress lined up waiting for a free haircut. And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it. Please share this.

Union

Central Passes…….Others Don’t

UPS: $600 per Vote?
 
The Round Two vote count in the Central Region is coming to the end, and the supplement has narrowly passed by 53.6%: 11,599 to 10,009.
 
The Yes Votes from Teamsters in Minnesota and Wisconsin put the Yes side over the top. UPS full-timers in those states do not face healthcare cuts they are covered by separate union plans.
 
Click here for complete local-by-local results. 
 
Hoffa and Hall launched a million-dollar PR campaign with glossy mailers, DVDs and IBT outreach at the gates to swing some 1,800 votes into the Yes column and pass the Supplement. That’s about $600 in members’ dues for every yes vote they turned.
 
The narrow defeat in the Central Supplement is disappointing. But the Vote No movement has a lot to be proud of—and the fight is far from over.
 
By rejecting a record number of supplements, the Vote No movement forced Hoffa and Hall to reverse many healthcare cuts and improve TeamCare benefits. The new benefits are not what members wanted, but they are a whole lot better than what Hoffa, Hall and UPS tried to make members accept. 
 
The Vote No movement can be proud of our solidarity—and members are better off for it. 
 
And, it’s not over yet. Yesterday, the Philadelphia Supplement was shot down by 71%. The Louisville Air Rider has not been negotiated yet, because the company is stonewalling Local 89. The Ohio Rider was rejected today. The Indiana Rider is not negotiated yet.
 
The Western Supplement and big Southwest Rider and the New Jersey Local 177 Supplements all need to be voted. The details of the renegotiated supplements and new health plan are still under wraps, nearly four months after the first contract vote.

The fight against healthcare cuts and contract concessions has awakened a sleeping giant: the nearly 250,000 Teamsters at UPS and 13,000 at UPS Freight.
 
Vote No activists are running for local office and organizing for change in the union. 
 
The UPS contract was supposed to be Ken’s Halls coming-out party as he prepares to run for Teamster General President. UPS and UPS Freight Teamsters are not about to jump on that bandwagon.
 
Teamster members deserve IBT leadership that will mobilize to win good contracts. Hoffa and Hall only kicked it into gear to sell contract concessions.
 
That’s why they have to go. Teamsters at UPS and UPS Freight can be the backbone of a powerful movement for change. Don’t whine, organize!

TDU

UPS driver information