I Just Quit Republican Party - Now Independent

[toobfreak]

That is the outrageous discrepancy between the yearly Social Security COLA (Cost of living Adjustment) increase in our monthly Social Security check, and the monstrous housing rent increases that landlords have been walloping us with.

I agree. Just the other day I was thinking along those lines and did a few calculations and found that in just fruit juice alone, the cost of a known juice to me had gone up something like 68% in the same time period that COLA had only gone up by around 26%.

In other words, the COLA calculation wasn't even covering HALF the actual increase in costs, and some things like fuel and rent, mortgage, etc., has gone up even faster.

I'll be talking to my representative tomorrow about it. And yes, I was already intending to before I saw your thread.

IMO, the official COLA put out by the government is a tissue of lies designed to play down the real extent of government's effects on spending, but I'm not sure what changing parties will do? Regardless of the party you are registered to is not going to change COLA. Fact of the matter is that retirees are a liability to government, not an asset, you are not out working paying taxes anymore, so you are now a lower class of people than anyone.

The official ranking of social groups is this:

1. Muslims
2. Illegals
3. Transsexuals
4. Pregnant women
5. Blacks
6. George Floyd protesters
7. ICE rioters
8. The working class
9. Dogs
10. Cats
11. The California Smelt
12. Retirees.

If you are a retiree, you're just a PITA to Uncle Sam now and lower than the low.

 

[Chuz Life]

...cough democrat......cough

 

[Darkwind]

I just changed my political party from Republican to Independent. Yes, I agree with Trump on a variety of things BUT there is one glaring (if not terrifying) thing that is staring me in the face, that I don't see anybody even talking about, much less dealing with it. That is the outrageous discrepancy between the yearly Social Security COLA (Cost of living Adjustment) increase in our monthly Social Security check, and the monstrous housing rent increases that landlords have been walloping us with.

So what does this mean in $$ & cents ? The 2025 & 2026 COLAs both were 2.8%. So our Social Security checks went up 2.8%.
This gave me a "whopping" (insulting) $31/month more to my income. At the same time, my apartment rent went up $104. So I LOST $73 per month. That's like going out in the street and being mugged for $73 once every month. Or being mugged for $876 once a year. Or $4,380 every 5 years.

For $4,380, I could buy a helluva nice guitar and mandolin, both of excellent quality.

It would be nice if some politicians were to even BE TALKING ABOUT THIS, much less doing something about it.

So, all you seniors out there, collecting Social Security, have you contacted your folks in Congress ? A 2018 study done by the Senior citizens League showed a noticable 34% loss of buying power since 2000 - and that was before housing rents went on their astronomical surges of the 2020s (and showing no sign of diminishing). REMEMBER >>> If your congressmen don't hear from you, THEY THINK YOURE HAPPY, AND DOING FINE.

Either the rents have to be controlled, or the COLAs need to be increased (or both). Doing nothing is unacceptable. Unless you think getting poorer & poorer with each passing year is acceptable - in which case, you'll need to have your head examined.

Note - 73% of Social Security recipients rely on it for most of their income. 50% rely on it for ALL of their income.

https://seniorsleague.org/assets/2018-Loss-of-Buying-Power-Report.pdf

Just one of the major reasons my wife and I worked damn hard to pay off our home. We own it, I'd like to say free and clear, but then there is the government greed of wanting taxes on a home even if there are no kids in the local schools, and I don't buy that lie about the "A better nation is an educated one" argument. They've followed that line of reasoning for 5 decades or more, and our population is just getting dumber and dumber and emotionally damaged.

I'll be retiring, hopefully, on Jan 1, 2028 @ 67. I don't have to worry about rents going up, and I'd like to see that federal law passed that frees retirees up from having to pay property taxes, of which mine are about $4k a year.

However, there are other reasons for going independent. I haven't yet, but with the cowardice of Trump not taking care of Iran right out of the box, I'm not happy with him about it at all. Toss in the effin massive spending and yeah. Independent is looking better and better.

 

[Woodznutz]

If republicans had their way, they’d eliminate Social Security (and Medicare) all together and give the billionaires another tax cut and let the money trickle on down.

True, sad to say.