Our next meeting is Jan 17 2012 at The Old Country Buffet (1090 E Lancaster Ave Downingtown, PA (610) 269-5999). The meeting starts at 12:45 p.m. and is over about 2:00 p.m. Further details on website (directions, cancellation policy, etc).
The annual chapter Holiday party is set for the General Warren Inn/ on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. Reservations are required (see Meetings page on website for details).
We’ve had our party here for the past couple years and it has been very successful so join us for a cheerful afternoon.
President Obama after two and a half years on the job and countless attempts at compromising with a do nothing congress is boarding the bus and taking his cause directly to the voters. His speeches include the promise that he won’t balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class. Little do most people know that we, the poor and middle class, would have been under that bus if the President could have gotten a compromise with Congress on his budget plan.
Among the President’s proposals include rolling back the tax breaks for the wealthiest wage earners which affects only a small portion of the overall population. Also, on the
positive side are the closing of loopholes and subsidies for oil and gas companies. The meat of his plan however, included cuts to Medicare and Medicaid to the tune of $248 billion. According to the Associated Press, ninety percent would be squeezed from service providers such as drug companies, hospitals and nursing homes, and the amounts many seniors pay for premiums; co-pays and deductibles would rise
significantly. Medicaid and other federal health programs would be cut by $73 billion. The cuts to Medicaid are particularly troublesome as it might affect the aging nursing home patients who depend on Medicaid once their funds run out and they can no longer afford the monthly payments. Many nursing homes will just refuse to accept patients on the front end knowing that the safety net will not be there in the later years. Other mandatory spending cuts include ending income–support payments to farmers, cutting out waste, fraud and abuse and reducing federal workers pay checks by 1.2% even though these same workers are already under a two year pay freeze.
There is an old saying, “the devil is in the details, and when the President says that he won’t solve the debt crises on the backs of the poor and middle-class I am wondering whose back he’s talking about. My advice, never take anything for granted. Check the facts, and vote with knowledge. These are tough times and getting involved is
more important than ever. Remember, the poor and middle-class represent the largest voting bloc so we can make a difference. Let you representatives know how you feel. They want to be reelected so that if enough of us get behind an issue the more likely we are to get our way.
I just wanted to let you know that I sent a message to both my Senators and my Representative in support of NARFE efforts to prevent deficit reduction at our expense (Federal workers and retirees). It was easy, just go to http://www.narfe.org/heartbeat/ and fill in your name and address and the rest is pretty much automatic.
Read over the letter and see if you agree. It is pretty simple to let them now what you think. And the more that do it, the greater force we are.
Federal employees and retirees have many questions about how a financial default by the government would affect them, but the Obama administration has “no comment” (see Administration ducks employees’ default questions ). Most of us worry about our next check after the default. We think it probably won’t happen but what if it does. I guess the fact is that a default has never happened so we don’t really know what will happen. Let’s hope for the best!
Vice President Biden to Host Blair House Meeting on Deficit Reduction:
Recently, the Whitehouse announced that Vice President Joe Biden would host a meeting at Blair House on deficit reduction with congressional bipartisan members of Congress. This Blair House group will put a lot of issues on the table for discussion, some of them include changes affecting active and retired federal workers health care, pay and other benefits earned through hard work and dedicated years of service.
As these meeting were taking place Timothy Geitner, Secretary of the Treasury announced that the government ran out of money and to keep it going he’s borrowing from the Civil Service Retirement Fund. That would also include your G fund folks. This then will be the subject of my most recent rant.
When I was a very young boy we used to say grace before every meal. My mother used to end it with the phrase, “God bless the unions for without them we would be nothing”. We were very much a union family as my father was the treasurer of his local. I was frequently reminded of this fact because he would often prepare his treasurer’s report which he pounded out on the old Underwood typewriter in my bedroom. The fact that I had to go to school the next day was of little importance, that report was going out.
When I started my first job with a large insurance firm they had a dress code, suits, ties, hats and raincoat. Women were hired and worked alongside the men and they were subject to the same dress code. Women however, were given the less desirable work and although I didn’t know it at the time, were paid less than the men. This fact didn’t go unnoticed however, as the company paid dearly years later. When a woman became pregnant we never saw her again. There was no such thing as maternity leave which probably explains why the company was always hiring kids just out of college. We were not unionized.
When I joined the government women were hired and worked alongside men but this time they were doing the same work and getting the same pay. When women became pregnant they didn’t go away but returned after maternity leave and resumed their careers. Now men had to compete with them for pay and promotions. We were unionized.
Where am I going with all this you ask? What’s the point with all this hyperbole? The point is that your pay, your healthcare and yes even your retirement fund is on the table down at the Blair house and you need to join together and do something about it. Did it ever occur to you why Timothy Geitner took our retirement fund rather than the much larger Social Security Fund. Try forty million Social Security recipients breathing down the backs of congress and the administration. They took our money because we aren’t forty million strong. We aren’t a force to be reckoned with, yet.
You have all heard the expression, “divide and conquer”. Now look at what is happening in Wisconsin, Ohio, and New Jersey. Why are these governors attacking the teachers unions? Certainly they don’t care a hoot about teacher’s salaries. Governors give billions to the rich and to corporations in their states. It’s the unions who donate money to compete against their party. Break the unions and the competition disappears.
I prefer the expression, “united we stand” . I have the sense that we have very few friends at Blair House and unless we become a force to be reckoned with we are going to hand over more than our retirement fund before it’s over with.
(Bill’s Rant from the June Newsletter)
Here are the first few paragraphs of Mike Causey’s Federal Report for May 19:
Contractors who are making big bucks helping Uncle Sam with national defense/homeland security could reap a major talent-and-dollars windfall if Congress slashes 150,000 federal jobs and lowers benefits for future retirees.
Many of them are watching in delight as politicians, in the name of economy, move to make government a not-so-great place to work. One proposal would trim take-home pay 5 to 6 percent.
Not that there is any connection, but contractors, using money paid them by the government, contribute a lot more money to politicians than federal and postal workers can or do.
What do you think? Share your thoughts with Chapter members and, more importantly, share your thoughts with your representatives in Washington.
A recent blog in the Washington Post suggests ways in which federal pensions may be targetted to balance the federal budget.
What do you think? Share your thoughts with Chapter members and, more importantly, share your thoughts with your representative in Washington.
This is something new we are trying out to enhance communication among NARFE Chapter 377 members. You can comment on each post (or on other comments). Coments are moderated so they probably won’t apeear right away. But you don’t need to register before commenting.