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“ NO SENIOR LEFT BEHIND”
Politicians are good at identifying and understanding “how the winds blow”. And they do that very well. There were 46 million Social Security beneficiaries in 2001 and only one million victims of either GPO and/or WEP in 2001. President Bush, Senator Frist, Speaker Hastert, Rep. Portman and Rep. Shaw have leadership positions in Washington who are not going to do anything to upset the 46 million present beneficiaries and the untold millions still paying into Social Security by repealing a law that the majority of people perceive as being fair. It just won’t happen in our lifetime.
Even though a bill, HR 594 McKeon/Berman, may have a majority of cosponsors, the political leadership in Washington is going to do nothing to expedite the bill through Congress. The actions of the 108th Congress will be no different than five previous Congresses with GPO and WEP bills. Nothing happened then and nothing will happen now. We have had lip service for ten years and counting.
For a couple of years we have considered the idea of a “Law Suit.” However, we were told by others to not actively pursue a legal remedy as it would take time and would impact, “mandatory SS coverage”. What could take more time than waiting for Congress to act? More recently we have received a constant stream of e-mails and letters asking about a legal remedy. We have discussed this possibility with other “grassroots” organizations and we find considerable support. Unless we run into a roadblock, we are proceeding with this alternative.
On June 6th we made preliminary action to explore a lawsuit. The law firm will do their research and report back to us. We are aware that there are many questions and issues and we will try to bring these to your attention as they develop.
My wife Sally has been watching over this Newsletter for almost three years. She corrects my numerous spelling and punctuation errors and is always present to review new ideas and directions. She possesses the wisdom of Jefferson and the patience of Jobe. It was she, who two months ago convinced me that legislative action was not a real possibility, and that legal action was necessary. Thanks for your insight.
On Friday June 6th we (Offset/Windfall) met with a Cincinnati law firm. We presented documentation why legal action, not legislative action, was the only reasonable approach to ridding society of the GPO and WEP. My outline of the meeting follows.
· "We took preliminary action to explore a lawsuit." You may quote.
· We should not continue as a "Class Action" because of the expense. How would we (and lawyer) identify and contact one million GPO and WEP victims? If we could, think of the cost of one million letters at $.37 each.
· Any lawsuit should identify specific plaintiffs.
· We would need to establish a fund raising committee to accept funds and pay lawyers’ fees.
· Time could take one to five years to complete process. However, Congress could act sooner if they saw that they would lose the suit.
· Law firm has successfully won "civil rights" case at the Supreme Court. This firm has the right kind of experience!
· We presented the firm with about two inches of documentation. They need about one week to review material and conduct preliminary research in order to determine if a lawsuit could be won.
· If they give us a "GO" we must then decide if we want to continue. No cost till then.
Sue Shaw, Maine, received this from a lady who was in Illinois for Memorial Day weekend.
The word is that Denny Hastert has been telling home-town friends
that he is
against GPO/WEP.....and that the bill to repeal GPO/WEP will not pass.
Dennis Hastert is from Yorkville, Illinois (Kane County)....he is a
former economics teacher/coach at Yorkville High School....his wife has
recently retired from YHS. He has recently been back home.....and told
(mutual) friends of ours that GPO/WEP will not pass....and, yes, he is
against repeal.
We must contact the members of the Subcommittee on Social Security. They control the process that forwards legislation to the floor of the House.
Flood their office with paper by sending a FAX. If you do not have access to a FAX, Call, 1-800-839-5276 and ask for a specific Subcommittee member and the operator will forward your call to the Congressperson’s Washington D.C. office. Request that they move HR 594 out of subcommittee hearings and to the floor of the house.
Sue Shaw from Maine, Louise Corkin from Illinois, and Eileen and Ken from Ohio met on April 16th in Indianapolis to discuss common goals and strategies. The meeting lasted 4 hours and concluded with a late lunch. The four of us agreed to work with and assist each other in the task of repealing the GPO and WEP. This is a true “grassroots” effort. We are not like The Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security (CPRS) or the Coalition to Assure Retirement Equity (CARE) with formal organizational structure. We operate from the seat of our pants and from our hearts with the support and assistance from thousands of GPO and WEP victims. Through our computers, phones and regular mail we have established a network that reaches to most of the 15 states still fighting mandatory Social Security and GPO/WEP.
Members of the 108th Congress
Subcommittee on Social Security
FAX Numbers
|
E. Clay Shaw Jr. , FL Chairman 202-225-8398 (fax) |
||
|
Sam Johnson, TX 202-225-1485
(fax) 202-225-2515
(fax) 202-225-3263
(fax) 202-225-5712
(fax) 202-226-2019
(fax) 202-225-5524
(fax) 202-225-3393 (fax) |
|
Robert T. Matsui, CA 202-225-0566
(fax) 202-225-9219
(fax) 202-226-0893
(fax) 202-225-2202
(fax) 202-225-1339 (fax) 216-522-4908 (fax) 1-202-225-7032 (voice) 1-216-522-4900 (voice) |
For the past couple of months we have had communication with the California Association of Highway Patrolmen (CAHP). They have become the west coast champion in our fight to repeal the GPO and WEP. The CAHP has many members and lots of contacts and recently forwarded the following “soapbox” web site. It is much like the Online petition in that it is designed to provide space for opinions and sends the opinion directly to Congress.
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/bio/comment/?id=392&soapboxid=2304511&lvl=C
The state of Ohio and its residents are victims of the GPO and WEP in more ways than one. Ohio Teachers, school staff, police, firefighters and all other public service employees could be subject to the GPO and WEP penalties. This is a potential dollar loss to current employees when they plan on retirement. Funds that are withheld from Ohio public service retirees amount to over $340 million dollars each year. Ohio has over 90,000 public service retirees receiving less Social Security benefits, more victims than any other state.
These facts have been presented in past Newsletters and unless the GPO and WEP are repealed the numbers will continue to grow each year. Ohio and 14 other states refused to buckle under federal pressure to adopt mandatory Social Security in the 1970’s. Could that be why GPO and WEP legislation was passed to penalize those 15 states? We think that probably did happen. Can we prove it? Probably not.
In the last Newsletter I mentioned that Barbara Ambrosius helped Eileen while I was vacationing in Florida. She has fit right in and is going to continue with help on our computer applications. She and Mark Ryan were able to conquer the Hotmail e-mail limitations. Barbara is retired from Oak Hills School District, Hamilton County, where she served on the Board office secretarial staff.
We want to thank everyone that sent letters of their experiences, such as overpayment, etc, or copies of articles that we sometimes can use in our contacts to Congress, etc. YOU are our eyes and ears. We will not publish your full name if we use any of your personal info.
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