WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It has come to our attention, via e-mail, that "the Democratic Congress" decreed that Social Security recipients will not get a cost-of-living increase next year.
Truly, there will be no increase in Social Security payments in 2010. Just about every newspaper reported that probability months ago. The current Congress, however, has nothing to do with it.
The e-mail doesn't pass the smell test. Democrats started Social Security over Republican opposition. Democrats expanded it to the point of insolvency. Republicans decried it, except once when they passed a drug benefit in the middle of the night in a bill no one had time to read. Why would Democrats suddenly, in 2009, abandon senior citizens?
The dull, old facts: In 1975, Congress gave up control over Social Security payment increases. Democrats voted for change because they saw how nutty they get in election years, Republicans because they don't like Social Security. The new law tied increases to the inflation rate, the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This year, for the first time since then, the CPI fell. The law provides that in such cases Social Security payments remain unchanged in the following year.
But does Congress love you? It does. Social Security recipients have a co-pay for Medicare Part B. The co-pay is deducted from their Social Security. This year, despite the overall inflation rate falling, the cost of medical care continues to rise because the American health care system is impervious to downward pressure on prices. So the co-pay is due to increase. That would give seniors lower Social Security benefits. The House overwhelmingly voted not to collect that increase next year. The Senate will agree, never fear.
It is worth noting that the CPI is based on spending by the general population, but expenses are not alike for young and old. Youngsters shop at a mall; seniors shop at a pharmacy. Because nothing holds down the cost of medications, seniors usually are hit harder than the CPI would indicate. The AARP has lobbied Congress for a separate CPI for seniors, to no effect.
Having it, I can tell you that old age doesn't make a heckuva lot of sense. But I can also tell you that, next only to investment bankers and professional athletes we are the most coddled group in America. Children get lip service; we get monthly checks. With 15.1 million people paying for the recent financial follies by being unemployed, and after 21 straight months of rising unemployment, it would be ungracious for seniors to gripe about not finding a little extra in their checks next January.
The e-mail going around tries to get them to gripe. It is written to inflame rather than explain. It is another product or byproduct of what Melinda Henneberger, editor-in-chief of politicsdaily.com, named "the anger industry."
A lot of money is raised for political campaigns by ratcheting up hatred toward people and symbols of the other side. The anger industry takes stereotypes and biases and magnifies them to make our country a nastier place.
E-mail needs to be recognized as mass gossip. It must be treated accordingly and not swallowed whole. It is used for propaganda because the users know people are prone to believe gossip and pass it on.
Now that you know the facts, though, ask yourself: Who first put out that e-mail about Social Security? He knew that there would be no cost-of-living increase next year. How did he know? Does he know the law? Did he read about it in a newspaper? But if he knew, why did he blame "the Democratic Congress" for something it had no part in?
And ask yourself why whoever forwarded the e-mail to you found it "frightening" or "informative," as he failed to smell it, much less check it out, before passing it on. Be sure to tell the forwarder your answer to that question.
Tom Blackburn is a former member of The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board. E-mail: tom(underscore)blackburn(at)juno.com.
