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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>so what in the "h" can we REALLY
do??????</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>nancy</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=marksafron@att.net href="mailto:marksafron@att.net">Mark Safron</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=occupymendocino@lists.mcn.org
href="mailto:occupymendocino@lists.mcn.org">occupymendocino@lists.mcn.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 08, 2013 3:53
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Occupymendocino] 7 Chilling
Facts About Retirement in America ...</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><FONT
class=Apple-style-span size=6>7 Chilling Facts About Retirement in America
That Should Make Obama Tremble<B> </B></FONT><FONT class=Apple-style-span
size=6>Before Cutting Social Security and Medicare</FONT></P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">By</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/lynn-stuart-parramore"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">Lynn Stuart Parramore</SPAN></A> </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">[2] </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">April 7,
2013;</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> <A
href="http://alternet.org/">Alternet.org</A> </SPAN></P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">We are
headed for a catastrophic retirement train wreck. A Wall Street-driven
financial crisis has stripped millions of people of things like jobs, pensions
and home equity that were supposed to deliver a dignified retirement after a
lifetime of hard work. The crisis has also provided certain interests the
opportunity to make false claims about the “unaffordability” of vital social
insurance programs like Social Security and Medicare that help the 99% make
it. <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">These opportunistic “<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/what-you-need-know-about-obama-and-social-security-sell-out"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">Raiders of Your Lost
Retirement</SPAN></A> </SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">[3]</SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">” do not give a hoot if you starve in your
golden years – this is about money to them. American financiers hate Social
Security, for example, because they want to push us toward private retirement
accounts on which they can charge fees. A large swath of the wealthy does not
like Social Security and Medicare because they do not like to pay
taxes.</SPAN></P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 29px" class=Apple-style-span>You might think Obama would be
on the side of the citizens on this one. But</SPAN><FONT
class=Apple-style-span size=6> </FONT><B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=6>it seems
that the President will officially propose this week to cut Social Security
and Medicare as part of his annual budget, despite the fact that this move
would be economically irresponsible, socially disruptive and morally
repugnant.</FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 29px">Here are seven things that should make Obama tremble
before he dares to announce such a betrayal of the American people.</SPAN></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>1.
Retiring on thin air: </B>In a <A
href="http://www.infowars.com/the-retirement-crisis-is-here-for-millions-income-inequality-now-set-to-wreak-its-ugly-revenge/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">recent report by the Employee Benefits Research
Institute</SPAN></A> [4] (EBRI), we find that <SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">a whopping 57 percent of American workers
have managed to put away less than $25,000 for retirement</SPAN> – less
than the <A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">one year’s annual
income</SPAN></A> [5] for the median American adult. In 2008, that
number was 49 percent, and the problem is getting worse every year. Half of
American workers are either “not too confident” or “not at all confident” that
they will be able to make ends meet in their retirement. In her <A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/our-ridiculous-approach-to-retirement.html?_r=0"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">must-read New York Times op-ed</SPAN></A> [6],
economist Theresa Ghilarducci doesn’t mince words – or numbers. She estimates
that close to half of middle-class workers will be poor or near poor in
retirement and reduced to living on a food budget of about $5 a day. That
won’t even buy a decent bag of cat food.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">In the
face of this bleak picture, the President appears to be poised to propose a
cut to Social Security in the form of a “chained CPI” – a way of calculating
annual cost of living increases that does not keep up with the actual costs
senior have to pay. Economists including Dean Baker, co-director of the Center
for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, have <A
href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/04/06/Chained-CPI-could-cost-retiree-650yr/UPI-60681365227001/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">discredited chained CPI</SPAN></A> [7]. Baker
warns that it can cost retiring 65-year-olds the sum of $650 per year, and
that number can leap to twice that amount once seniors reach 85.</P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>2.
Pension perils: </B>American workers like pensions better than <A
href="http://blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2012/11/13/were-pensions-as-great-as-you-remember/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">higher incomes, more vacation time and bigger
bonuses.</SPAN></A> [8] And it’s no wonder: retirees with pensions
have far more income security than their pension-less counterparts. In
2011, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">one out of three older
adults enjoyed some form of pension, but that<A
href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/01/10/1427721/pensions-chart-disappearing/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">number has been shrinking for
decades</SPAN></A></SPAN> [9]. Since 1985, <A
href="http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Corporate-Greed/Where-Did-All-Our-Pensions-Go"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">84,350 pension plans</SPAN></A> [10]have
vanished. Corporate pensions have gone the way of the dodo bird and the
precious few private pensions that remain are in jeopardy. Public pensions are
the targets of cynical austerity hawks who use the excuse of state and
municipal budget crises that have little to do with pensions (and much to do
with Wall Street) to make war on workers’ retirements.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">This puts
an added strain on retirees, and we don’t yet know how catastrophic it’s going
to be because many affected by the pension killing-spree will not retire for
many years. But we surely know this: pensions have been a vital part of
retirement that have kept retirees afloat, and without them, more will sink
into poverty.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">While
we’re on the subject, it may interest you to know that <SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">the President <A
href="http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/presretirement.htm"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">will receive a pension that will start at around
200k per year</SPAN></A> </SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">[11]</SPAN><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"> after his second term</SPAN>, and it
will go up from there. That’s just the beginning – other perks include travel,
office expenses, and so on. And yet he is preparing to make it more difficult
for those Americans without pensions to survive. Something wrong with this
picture?</P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">3. The 401(k)
catastrophe</SPAN></B><B>: </B>It’s high time to face it: the 401(k)
experiment, which started in the 80s, has been a complete disaster. 401(k)s
don’t even come close to providing the retirement security promised to
workers. To expect Americans to morph into finance experts who can evaluate
mutual funds and stockmarket choices may be one of the most absurd legacies of
the last three decades. And, as Helaine Olen outlines in her
book <I>Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance
Industry</I>, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">people trying to
save for retirement have become a prime target of hustlers who push mutual
funds with hidden fees and needless charges which pile up and rob the
contributor of hard-earned money.</SPAN></P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">And lest
we forget, Enron, like many other companies, <A
href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/08/401k-a15.html"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">put strong pressure on
employees</SPAN></A> [12] to invest in the company’s stock. Result?
Many employees lost most of their life savings when the company blocked
workers from selling its stock held in 401(k) accounts, just as the stock
price was taking a downward plunge.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=6>401(k)s
are volatile, complicated, expensive, and inadequate. Social Security, on the
other hand, is simple, fiscally sound, and prudently
managed</FONT></SPAN></B><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=6>.</FONT></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>4.
Political games don’t wash: </B>Social Security raiders tell us that the
program needs to be “fixed,” with very little to back up their claims. There
is nothing wrong with the program now, so they forecast – and let’s remember
how good these same people were at forecasting the financial crisis – some
kind of future crisis.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">Here are
the facts: According to the trustees of the Social Security trust fund
there<I>might </I>be a shortfall in revenues against predicted claims in
2033 <I>if</I> economic growth is not good. <SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">You could reasonably argue that a tweak ought
to be made a couple of decades down the road when we actually know how things
stand, like making the rich pay Social Security taxes on the money they make
over the current low ceiling of just over $100,000.</SPAN></P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=6>There is
no justification for doing anything now</FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 29px">, and the raiders know it. So they make things up.
Economists Thomas Ferguson and Rob Johnson note this in their article, “<A
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-ferguson/from-new-deal-to-raw-deal_b_892713.html"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">From New Deal To Raw Deal: The Real Economics Of
Cutting Social Security</SPAN></A> </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 29px">[13]</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 29px">.” They
observe that Peter Orszag, the former head of the Obama administration's
Office of Management and Budget, who now works at Citigroup, has admitted that
Social Security has nothing to do with any budget crisis:</SPAN></P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0.5in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; FONT-SIZE: 29px">“The
first yellow flag is Orszag's frank acknowledgment that Social Security
features barely at all in any putative budget short fall: ‘Social Security is
not the key fiscal problem facing the nation. Payments to its beneficiaries
amount to 5 percent of the economy now; by 2050, they're projected to rise to
about 6 percent.’”</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">Orszag
knows the truth, but because he is aligned with the interests of financiers,
he comes up with a stunning justification for making cuts:</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0.5in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; FONT-SIZE: 29px">“As
Orszag frankly confesses, ‘even though Social Security is not a major
contributor to our long-term deficits, reforming it could help the federal
government establish much-needed credibility on solving out-year fiscal
problems.’"</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=6>In other
words, politicians have to cut Social Security not because it has any negative
impact on the budget, but to prove to the markets that they can. How’s that
for logic?</FONT></SPAN></B><B style="FONT-SIZE: 29px"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt"></SPAN></B></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>5.
Americans oppose cuts:</B> The American people have <A
href="http://www.ncpssm.org/EntitledtoKnow/entryid/1953/Americans-Don-t-Support-Cutting-Social-Security-Medicare-for-Deficit-Reduction-Even-Wall-Street-backed-Third-Way-Agrees"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">made it abundantly clear</SPAN></A>[14] that
they do not want Social Security and Medicare cut. And yet the President has
made your retirement a bargaining chip in budget negotiations with
Republicans, smuggling the cuts through the customs of specious arguments
about “the need to govern” and so on. Let’s call this what it is:
immoral. <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">The social insurance that
provides hard-working Americans protection against financial and health
calamities should not be a bargaining chip any more than civil rights should
be a bargaining chip.</SPAN> The dignity of our elderly, not to mention
the health of our children and vulnerable citizens who rely on these programs
to live, are part of the fundamental structure of a decent society and are
essential to our economic prosperity. How, for example, is a person at peak
working age to remain fully productive when she has to care for elderly
parents who can’t make ends meet?</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=6>A more
cynical view of what’s happening is that Obama is paying off his wealthy
donors</FONT></SPAN></B><FONT class=Apple-style-span
size=4>. </FONT><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 29px" class=Apple-style-span>A
political scientist I know warned me when Obama was elected the first time
that he would do very little on financial reform because Wall Street had
always been one of his major funders. That same political scientist warned me
this time around that Obama would make cutting entitlements a priority in his
second term for much the same reason: a coalition of big business interests
supported his reelection, and this is what they want in return. If Obama goes
through with these cuts, he will have spelled out for all those who supported
him exactly who he represents.</SPAN></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>6.
Means-testing Medicare is discredited:</B> Reports say that Obama will
propose<A
href="http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/04/obama-budget-to-offer-medicare-social-security-cuts-160902.html"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">to cut $400 billion from Medicare over the next
decade</SPAN></A> [15]. One idea that may appear in his plan is
means-testing, a notion that has long been the golden dream of those who hate
Medicare and Social Security because it tends to diminish political support
for the programs.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">A few
months back, when a lot of Democrats and liberals were touting means-testing,
I decided to ask several prominent economists, including a Nobel Prize-winner,
to explain to me what they make of it. Please turn your attention to: “<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/6-reasons-joseph-stiglitz-and-other-top-economists-think-means-testing-medicare"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">6 Reasons Joseph Stiglitz and Other Top Economists
Think Means-Testing Medicare and Social Security Is a Destructive
Idea.</SPAN></A> [16]” Their conclusion: <SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">means-testing is nothing more than a
back-door strategy for taking away benefits earned by hard-working people. As
Stiglitz explained, it undermines progressive values by going against notions
of fairness and shared citizenship while promoting the false idea that Social
Security and Medicare are welfare, which they aren’t. As James Galbraith
explained, these programs are not charity; they are social
insurance.</SPAN></P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">“We don’t
means-test public education,” Stiglitz told me, “because we believe that we
want people to have the same opportunities and we lose out on that with
means-testing.” Shouldn’t that go for dignified retirement and adequate
medical care in old age? Stiglitz thought so.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px">Healthcare
costs are a terrible problem, but not because your grandmother receives
benefits. The problems stems from monopolistic conditions in the insurance
industry, ridiculously high prices for drugs charged by pharmaceutical
companies, and a fee-for-service system that encourages doctors to charge for
expensive and unnecessary services. If politicians were really interested in
addressing rising healthcare costs, they would deal with those issues.</P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>7.
Women at risk:</B> <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">Woman
were instrumental in getting Obama elected, and yet he is proposing to throw
them under the bus</SPAN>. As <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/06/24/the-truth-about-women-aging-retirement"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">Manisha Thakor points out</SPAN></A> [17],
women live longer than men and need more support in old age. Thakor notes that
recently, ABC World News Tonight anchor Charlie Gibson reported that when it
comes to healthcare, male retirees required $170,000, while female retirerees
had to come up with $240,000. And yet how are they going to find this money
when they retire with two-thirds of the assets of men?</P>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><BR
class=webkit-block-placeholder> </DIV>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt"><FONT
class=Apple-style-span size=6><B><SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">Saving
is particularly difficult for women because they still do more housework and
have added childcare and eldercare responsibilities compared. Plus, they also
earn less than their male counterparts. Proposing cuts to Social Security and
Medicare will mean that more women will sink into the mire of poverty. Much
has been said of the GOP war on women. How sad and cynical for a Democratic
president to join them.</SPAN></B><B></B></FONT></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>Source
URL:</B> <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/7-chilling-facts-about-retirement-america-should-make-obama-tremble-cutting-social-security"><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext">http://www.alternet.org/economy/7-chilling-facts-about-retirement-america-should-make-obama-tremble-cutting-social-security</SPAN></A></P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B></B> </P>
<P
style="FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; FONT-SIZE: 29px"><B>Links:</B>
[1] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/">http://www.alternet.org</A>
[2] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/lynn-stuart-parramore">http://www.alternet.org/authors/lynn-stuart-parramore</A>
[3] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/what-you-need-know-about-obama-and-social-security-sell-out">http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/what-you-need-know-about-obama-and-social-security-sell-out</A>
[4] <A
href="http://www.infowars.com/the-retirement-crisis-is-here-for-millions-income-inequality-now-set-to-wreak-its-ugly-revenge/">http://www.infowars.com/the-retirement-crisis-is-here-for-millions-income-inequality-now-set-to-wreak-its-ugly-revenge/</A>
[5] <A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income</A>
[6]<A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/our-ridiculous-approach-to-retirement.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/our-ridiculous-approach-to-retirement.html?_r=0</A>
[7]<A
href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/04/06/Chained-CPI-could-cost-retiree-650yr/UPI-60681365227001/">http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/04/06/Chained-CPI-could-cost-retiree-650yr/UPI-60681365227001/</A>
[8]<A
href="http://blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2012/11/13/were-pensions-as-great-as-you-remember/">http://blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2012/11/13/were-pensions-as-great-as-you-remember/</A>
[9]<A
href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/01/10/1427721/pensions-chart-disappearing/">http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/01/10/1427721/pensions-chart-disappearing/</A>
[10] <A
href="http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Corporate-Greed/Where-Did-All-Our-Pensions-Go">http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Corporate-Greed/Where-Did-All-Our-Pensions-Go</A>
[11]<A
href="http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/presretirement.htm">http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/presretirement.htm</A>
[12]<A
href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/08/401k-a15.html">http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/08/401k-a15.html</A>
[13]<A
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-ferguson/from-new-deal-to-raw-deal_b_892713.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-ferguson/from-new-deal-to-raw-deal_b_892713.html</A>
[14]<A
href="http://www.ncpssm.org/EntitledtoKnow/entryid/1953/Americans-Don-t-Support-Cutting-Social-Security-Medicare-for-Deficit-Reduction-Even-Wall-Street-backed-Third-Way-Agrees">http://www.ncpssm.org/EntitledtoKnow/entryid/1953/Americans-Don-t-Support-Cutting-Social-Security-Medicare-for-Deficit-Reduction-Even-Wall-Street-backed-Third-Way-Agrees</A>
[15] <A
href="http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/04/obama-budget-to-offer-medicare-social-security-cuts-160902.html">http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/04/obama-budget-to-offer-medicare-social-security-cuts-160902.html</A>
[16]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/6-reasons-joseph-stiglitz-and-other-top-economists-think-means-testing-medicare">http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/6-reasons-joseph-stiglitz-and-other-top-economists-think-means-testing-medicare</A>
[17]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/06/24/the-truth-about-women-aging-retirement">http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/06/24/the-truth-about-women-aging-retirement</A>
[18] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/abc-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/abc-0</A>
[19]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/barack-obama">http://www.alternet.org/tags/barack-obama</A>
[20]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/center-economic-and-policy-research-washington">http://www.alternet.org/tags/center-economic-and-policy-research-washington</A>
[21] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/charlie-gibson">http://www.alternet.org/tags/charlie-gibson</A>
[22]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/citigroup-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/citigroup-0</A>
[23] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/dean-baker-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/dean-baker-0</A>
[24] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/economics-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/economics-0</A>
[25]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/economists-thomas-ferguson">http://www.alternet.org/tags/economists-thomas-ferguson</A>
[26]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/employee-benefits-research-institute">http://www.alternet.org/tags/employee-benefits-research-institute</A>
[27]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/enron">http://www.alternet.org/tags/enron</A>
[28]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/government-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/government-0</A>
[29]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/helaine-olen">http://www.alternet.org/tags/helaine-olen</A>
[30]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/james-galbraith">http://www.alternet.org/tags/james-galbraith</A>
[31]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/joseph-stiglitz-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/joseph-stiglitz-0</A>
[32]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/labor-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/labor-0</A>
[33] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/medicare">http://www.alternet.org/tags/medicare</A>
[34] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/new-york-times">http://www.alternet.org/tags/new-york-times</A>
[35]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/obama-administration-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/obama-administration-0</A>
[36]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/obama-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/obama-0</A>
[37]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/pension-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/pension-0</A>
[38]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/person-career">http://www.alternet.org/tags/person-career</A>
[39]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/peter-orszag">http://www.alternet.org/tags/peter-orszag</A>
[40]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/peter-r-orszag">http://www.alternet.org/tags/peter-r-orszag</A>
[41]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/president-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/president-0</A>
[42]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/quotation">http://www.alternet.org/tags/quotation</A>
[43]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/retirement-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/retirement-0</A>
[44]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/rob-johnson">http://www.alternet.org/tags/rob-johnson</A>
[45]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-issues-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-issues-0</A>
[46]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-security">http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-security</A>
[47]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/stiglitz-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/stiglitz-0</A>
[48]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/taxation-united-states">http://www.alternet.org/tags/taxation-united-states</A>
[49]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/theresa-ghilarducci">http://www.alternet.org/tags/theresa-ghilarducci</A>
[50]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/usd">http://www.alternet.org/tags/usd</A>
[51] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/united-states">http://www.alternet.org/tags/united-states</A>
[52] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/bargaining-chip">http://www.alternet.org/tags/bargaining-chip</A>
[53]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/cat-food">http://www.alternet.org/tags/cat-food</A>
[54] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/co-director">http://www.alternet.org/tags/co-director</A>
[55] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/economist-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/economist-0</A>
[56]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/federal-government">http://www.alternet.org/tags/federal-government</A>
[57]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/finance-experts">http://www.alternet.org/tags/finance-experts</A>
[58]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/food-budget">http://www.alternet.org/tags/food-budget</A>
[59]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/head">http://www.alternet.org/tags/head</A>
[60] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/healthcare-costs">http://www.alternet.org/tags/healthcare-costs</A>
[61] <A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/healthcare">http://www.alternet.org/tags/healthcare</A>
[62]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/insurance-industry">http://www.alternet.org/tags/insurance-industry</A>
[63]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/office-management-and-budget">http://www.alternet.org/tags/office-management-and-budget</A>
[64]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/pharmaceutical">http://www.alternet.org/tags/pharmaceutical</A>
[65]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/political-scientist">http://www.alternet.org/tags/political-scientist</A>
[66]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/same-political-scientist">http://www.alternet.org/tags/same-political-scientist</A>
[67]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-insurance-programs">http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-insurance-programs</A>
[68]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-insurance">http://www.alternet.org/tags/social-insurance</A>
[69]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/unnecessary-services">http://www.alternet.org/tags/unnecessary-services</A>
[70]<A
href="http://www.alternet.org/+new_src+">http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B</A></P>
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