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“ NO SENIOR LEFT BEHIND.”
February, 2003 - NEWSLETTER
NEW LEGISLATION
On January 7, 2003 Congressman Shaw along with four cosponsors introduced HR 75, Social Security Guarantee Plus Act of 2003. Section 207 of the bill states, “Government pension offset reduced from two-thirds to one-third of the government pension.”
PETITION
Thanks to petitions received from the Ohio Retired Teachers Association ORTA, the February 1, 2003 total number of signatures to repeal and/or modify the GPO and WEP stands at 16,716.
SUE SHAW, PENOBSCOT, MAINE
As a follow-up to CBS newscast on January 8, 2003 about WEP, grassroots organizations in Illinois, Texas and Ohio were contacted by CBS to be interviewed about another newscast on GPO to be aired in February. This is very important – when CBS News does the follow up telecast on GPO and WEP please call, write and e-mail your local CBS station and the CBS office in New York. When they find out that there is nationwide interest CBS will devote more time to GPO and WEP. Likewise, if no one contacts them, CBS will conclude that there is no interest and will drop the issue. We can’t let that happen – so call and write.
RAY FONGEMIE, WINTHROP, MAINE
Bangor Daily News Saturday/Sunday, January 25-26,2003
Wall Street Journal Sunday, Readers’ Forum
“Somehow it does not seem right having to pay income tax on up to 85% of what one receives in benefits. But there is something about Social Security that is even worse. It cheats recipients and subverts public policy.
“Government and business need teachers and managers with creative leadership abilities. Private sector workers and early retirees are discouraged from entering government and government workers from going into the private sector. As a result, the country does not fully capitalize on investments in training, professional development, and entrepreneurial talents. The Social Security restrictions limit opportunities for people and business enterprises.”
ACTION
Congress passed Social Security legislation over twenty years ago called the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). By the year 2000 there were an estimated 835,000 public service retirees held hostage by that legislation and that number increases by 75,000 public service retirees each year. We estimate that today there are over 1 million GPO and WEP victims. The dollar amount is staggering. In Ohio alone more than $340 million is stolen from Social Security benefit checks each year. Gov. Taft, are you listening? You talk about increasing taxes for Ohio residents – we talk about receiving our full Social Security benefit. Washington is keeping our Social Security benefit.
The public service retirees affected by this insidious legislation are police, firefighters, teachers, school bus drivers, school staff, letter carriers, local, county, and state employees. Those NOT affected by this legislation are elected state/local or military service pensions and those whose family work entirely in the private sector.
There were numerous bills introduced in the 107th Congress to correct this injustice. However, not a single bill reached the floor of either house for a vote. The 108th Congress will again see legislation to repeal or change the GPO and WEP. We, the American public, must convince our Members of Congress that they must act now. President Bush said, “No child left behind”. More than one million public service retirees say “NO SENIOR LEFT BEHIND.”
Bush, President George W. E-mail Address(es): president@whitehouse.gov
Cheney, Vice President Dick E-mail Address(es): vice.president@whitehouse.gov
Thomas, Bill E-mail Address(es): (Chairman--Ways and Means) bill.thomas@mail.house.gov
Pelosi, Nancy (minority leader in the House) E-mail Address(es):sf.nancy@mail.house.gov
Bill Frist: (Senate Majority Leader) (a web site for e-mail) http://frist.senate.gov/contact.cfm
SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS TO MEXICANS
In a November issue of the Washington Post it was reported that the U.S. is aiming to pay Mexicans Social Security benefits. We summarize their article this way. The U.S. has 20 existing international agreements for foreign workers legally working in the U.S. being subject to Social Security deductions and benefits. The U.S. does not presently have such an agreement with Mexican citizens legally working in the U.S. The result is that the U.S., in the name of Social Security, collects tax money from Mexican workers’ paychecks with no intention of ever repaying that individual with retirement benefits.
In a related communication that we received, it is reported that Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) calls it another way. Thousands of foreigners who would qualify for U.S. Social Security benefits actually came to the United States and worked here illegally. Under "totalization," a foreigner who came to the United States illegally could work fewer than the required number of years, return to Mexico for the rest of his working years, and collect full U.S. Social Security benefits while living in Mexico. That is an insult to the millions of Americans who pay their entire working lives into the system and now face the possibility that there may be nothing left when it is their turn to retire.
We obviously don’t have all the facts – stay tuned. One fact is clear. We must take care of business at home first. That means repealing the GPO and WEP prior to considering payments to Mexicans.
OFFSET/WINDFALL WEB PAGE
It is difficult, at best, to maintain a web page. We have Mark Ryan, Eileen Ryan’s son, to act as our webmaster. He has made changes to the web page and we ask that you go to the web page to see his outstanding work, www.dingomt.com/ssoffsetlaw. As time permits and as information is gathered, the web page will be updated to reflect current facts and figures.
FOR OHIO RESIDENTS
In the Ohio 124th General Assembly, bill H.B. 528 was introduced to exempt from the Ohio income tax up to $10,000 in Ohio or federal government employee benefits, including military personnel retirement benefits. H.B. 528 was not acted upon during the 124th General Assembly and will be reintroduced in the 125th General Assembly. Currently all public retirement pensions are subject to State of Ohio income tax. Passage of this bill would exempt up to $10,000, thus reducing your Ohio tax liability.
Please contact your Ohio state Congresspersons and Senators to express support for this bill. Contact them early and often. Many state wide organizations support this legislation. We thank Gary Weiss, NARFE, for bringing this bill to our attention.
Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar, a Member of Congress from 1977 through 1993, is from Cleveland and has a weekly radio talk show on WERE. She invites guests to present issues pertaining to Ohio residents. On January 27th Eileen Ryan and Ken Moore discussed the GPO and WEP during her one hour broadcast. We hope that many in the NE area of Ohio heard the show. The radio show was a new thing for Eileen and Ken. We hope that it was well received and was informative to the audience.
OFFSET/WINDFALL NEWSLETTER
If you received this Newsletter by snail mail sent to your home street address you noticed that it was a combination January / February Newsletter. If you received this Newsletter by e-mail you received only the February Newsletter, as the January Newsletter was sent last month. The purpose behind combining the two Newsletters sent by snail mail is to save money on postage expenses. Printing copies of one Newsletter each month or two Newsletters every other month costs exactly the same. The cost of postage on one mailing is significantly less than two mailings.
The down side is that when two Newsletters are combined, the snail mail Newsletter may in fact contain some dated material. We recognize this and will do all in our power to maintain a regular mailing to both the e-mail and snail mail recipients.
We know some members receiving the newsletter are not in the position of sending in a donation. On occasion we have received one dollar in cash that equals $100 in our minds. That single dollar is important to us. We have absorbed many costs plus the many hours to succeed in our efforts to end the GPO/WEP. We have $271.60 in our checking account, the cost of reproduction and mailing the January/February Newsletter will be about $175.00. If you believe in what we are doing consider your donation an investment. If you would like to be on our mailing list you may contact us at OFFSET/WINDFALL, 8968 Lyncris Dr. Cincinnati, OH 45242, or at ssoffset@hotmail.com.
SEARCH
I typed in “Government Pension Offset” in the Microsoft search engine and it came up with 36,975 web locations (links). Our web page, Offset/Windfall was number 38. It is amazing to see the number of organizations listing the GPO and WEP as an issue. And still Congress does nothing. Many of the web sites are links to SSA publications; however, many are public retirement organizations with members impacted by the GPO and /or the WEP.
If you reside in a state OTHER THAN OHIO we would be interested in knowing which state you live in. We are trying to compile a list to compare with the list of the 15 states that do not have mandatory Social Security. Our goal is to establish a network with people in these 15 states to coordinate our efforts in exerting influence on politicians and greater exposure in the media. The 15 states are, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas. Please respond to our e-mail ssoffset@hotmail.com with your name and location. Remember, if you reside in Ohio DO NOT REPLY. Thanks.
JUST IN -----
PLEASE POST PLEASE POST PLEASE POST
Please send the notice below to as many people as possible. Make enlarged copies and post them in both work places and public areas. Notify your area media and public service announcements. Notify Congressional Delegations (you can get their phone and fax #s at www.congress.gov). Send copies to all schools and to groups such as police, firefighters, and state and federal employees.
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NEWS FLASH:
"CBS Evening News with Dan Rather"
is going to do it again!
Correspondent Mika Brzezinski has prepared a 2nd "Eye on America" segment concerning the Social Security Offsets, this time featuring not only a retired Illinois firefighter affected by the Offsets but also a meeting of the Northern Illinois Coalition to Assure Retirement Equity. The spot is scheduled to be aired on Monday, February 10th.
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Suggestions for follow-up after the broadcast:
Contact CBS News at their web site (www.cbs.com)…
#1---- thank them for their coverage
#2---- make positive comments concerning Mika's presentation. (The reason that they are doing this 2nd piece is that the response to the Maine segment was so overwhelming! Let's try for an even larger response this time!)
#3---- tell them that this is a BIG issue and beg them for further coverage on any or all of their shows such as "60 Minutes".
Call or FAX both of your US Senators and your US Representative (numbers can be found on the www.congress.gov web site)…
#1---tell them of the coverage (try to notify them of it ahead of time also) and ask them if they saw it.
#2---remind them of the number of their constituents affected by the Offsets and that those voters are becoming more and more aware of how the Offsets discriminate against the low paid public worker.
#3---ask them to set a day and time that they would be willing to meet with you and your group to discuss plans for the elimination of the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision.