Go here for more info on Health Care: http://www.democrats.org
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A More Secure Future
What the New Health Law Means for You and Your Family
There's a lot of misinformation out there. For too long, too many hard working Americans paid the price for policies that handed free rein to insurance companies. President Obama’s health reform law gives hard working families the security they deserve. The Affordable Care Act holds insurance companies accountable, lowers health care costs, gives Americans more freedom and control in their health care choices and improves the quality of care.
1) Myth de-bunked
Health insurance reform will NOT use your tax dollars to fund abortions.
Quick Stat
More than 105 million Americans no longer have lifetime dollar limits on their coverage:
Under the new health care law, insurers can no longer impose lifetime dollar limits on care and annual limits are being phased out by 2014.
2) Myth de-bunked
Businesses will NOT suffer under health reform
Quick Stat
Seniors with Medicare are paying less for prescription drugs:
More than 5.1 million people on Medicare have saved over $3.1 billion on prescription drugs, including a one-time $250 rebate check to seniors who fell into the prescription coverage gap or “donut hole” in 2010, and a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs worth an average of $604 per person in 2011.
3) Myth de-bunked
The Affordable Care Act will help bring down the cost of health care.
Quick Stat
More Americans have access to free preventive services:
In 2011, approximately 54 million Americans had their prevention coverage improve in their private health insurance plans. And an estimated 32.5 million people with Medicare have received one or more free preventive service.
4) Myth de-bunked
Health reform will NOT lead to a government takeover of health care.
Quick Stat
Thanks in part to new tools and resources provided by the Affordable Care Act, health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered nearly $4.1 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and $10.7 billion over the last three years.
5) Myth de-bunked
Employers will not stop offering insurance to their workers when the law is implemented.
Quick Stat
In every State and for the first time ever, insurance companies are required to publicly justify their actions if they want to raise rates by 10 percent or more and more states have the authority to reject unreasonable premium increases.
6) Myth de-bunked
The Affordable Care Act‘s individual responsibility requirement IS constitutional.
Quick Stat
Since September 2010, approximately 3.1 million young adults have gained coverage through the provision of the Affordable Care Act that enables children up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan.
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In March 2010, President Obama fulfilled a promise that Democrats have pursued for nearly a century: making health care available to all Americans. Despite unanimous opposition from Republicans, Democrats were finally able to pass comprehensive health reform into law.
By 2014, health reform will eliminate all discrimination for pre-existing conditions, start the process of expanding health insurance coverage for an additional 32 million Americans, and provide the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history.
The Affordable Care Act has already begun to end the worst insurance company abuses. Since 2010, children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied insurance.
The Affordable Care Act also provides tax cuts to small business to help offset the costs of employee coverage, and tax credits to help families pay for insurance. Health reform will also lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government, reducing our deficit by more than $1 trillion in the next two decades alone.
And health reform strengthens Medicare by reducing fraud, improving quality of care, and closing the Medicare “donut hole” gap in seniors’ prescription drug coverage.
Like Medicare before it, the Affordable Care Act lays a new foundation for our country that will bring additional security and stability to the American people for generations to come.
In March 2010, President Obama fulfilled a promise that Democrats have pursued for nearly a century: making health care available to all Americans. Despite unanimous opposition from Republicans, Democrats were finally able to pass comprehensive health reform into law.
By 2014, health reform will eliminate all discrimination for pre-existing conditions, start the process of expanding health insurance coverage for an additional 32 million Americans, and provide the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history.
The Affordable Care Act has already begun to end the worst insurance company abuses. Since 2010, children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied insurance.
The Affordable Care Act also provides tax cuts to small business to help offset the costs of employee coverage, and tax credits to help families pay for insurance. Health reform will also lower costs for families and for businesses and for the federal government, reducing our deficit by more than $1 trillion in the next two decades alone.
And health reform strengthens Medicare by reducing fraud, improving quality of care, and closing the Medicare “donut hole” gap in seniors’ prescription drug coverage.
Like Medicare before it, the Affordable Care Act lays a new foundation for our country that will bring additional security and stability to the American people for generations to come.
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Visit this link for more information : http://www.healthcare.gov/
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SOCIAL SECURITY
DNC STATEMENT:
In 1935, Democrats and President Franklin Roosevelt created Social Security. In 1965, Democrats and President Lyndon Johnson created Medicare. Ever since, Democrats have continually fought to defend these cornerstones of the American Dream in the face of attempts to dismantle or undermine both.
PROTECTING SOCIAL SECURITY
In recent years, Democrats have beaten back Republican plans to
privatize Social Security—plans that would have exposed the retirement
funds of millions of American seniors to great risk on the eve of the
financial crisis.
STRENGTHENING MEDICARE
Recently enacted health reform strengthened the Medicare trust fund,
expanding its life by more than a decade. The Affordable Care Act also
will improve care across the board, reduce fraud, and finally close the
hole in Medicare drug coverage known as the “donut hole.” As of 2011,
seniors are eligible for free coverage for certain preventive services.
HELPING AMERICANS SAVE FOR RETIREMENT
Democrats want to make it easier for all Americans to participate in
retirement accounts at work and support a system where employees have
pension portability, so workers don’t lose their pension if they change
jobs.
AARP ON SOCIAL SECURITY:
Social Security »Myths and Truths About...
Special Report
Myths and Truths About Social Security
Exploding 5 misconceptions that threaten the system
It happened during the stock boom of the 1990s, and it is happening again. Social Security
is coming under attack. The first challenge arose from hope — that
savers would get more retirement income for their money if they bought
stocks. But the idea of privatization was not popular with the public.
See also: Sign up for the AARP Money Newsletter.
Now, the attack comes from fear — that Social Security has serious
financial problems and can only fail. Younger people lean more toward
change than older people do. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted
a year ago found that 60 percent of adults who aren't retired expect to
get nothing — zero — from Social Security in their older age.
More on Social Security
- 3 Social Security scams. Read
- Top 25 Social Security questions. Read
- Women strengthen Social Security. Read
- Faces of Social Security slide show. Watch
- AARP Social Security Benefits Calculator. Do
Join AARP today - Receive access to exclusive information, benefits and discounts.
They're mistaken. As misinformation and mistrust grow, however, it becomes important to explore — and explode — several Social Security myths that endanger the system's public support.
Myth No. 1: Social Security is going bankrupt. No, it's not. Even
in the unlikely event that nothing changes and the program's entire
surplus runs out in 2036, as projected, checks would keep coming.
Payroll taxes at current rates would cover 77 percent of all the future
benefits promised. That's true for young and old alike, and includes
inflation adjustments.
Myth No. 2: I'd be better off if I'd kept my Social Security taxes in my own investment account. Hmmm — you're saying that you'd faithfully put that money aside, every year of your working life, in a mix of stocks and bonds, without ever skipping a year, drawing on your nest egg or selling when the market dropped? Few such paragons exist.
Learn the facts about Social Security. — C.J. Burton/Corbis
You'd need to invest far more than you probably realize to match the
benefits Social Security pays. As an example, take a 65-year-old couple
with a single breadwinner who earned the average wage. At retirement,
they'd currently get about $2,170 a month, plus inflation adjustments,
for life, the Urban Institute reports.
To equal that sum in private savings, they'd need to have about
$580,000, says Michael Kitces, director of research for Pinnacle
Advisory Group, and the money might last only 30 years. How many average
earners are likely to save that much?
FROM THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION:
Press Release
Monday, April 23, 2012 Press Office For Immediate Release 410-965-8904 press.office@ssa.gov
Social Security Board of Trustees: Projected Trust Fund Exhaustion Three Years Sooner Than Last Year
The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the financial health of the Social Security Trust Funds. The combined assets of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds will be exhausted in 2033, three years sooner than projected last year. The DI Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2016, two years earlier than last year’s estimate. The Trustees also project that OASDI program costs will exceed non-interest income in 2012 and will remain higher throughout the remainder of the 75-year period.
In the 2012 Annual Report to Congress, the Trustees announced:
- The projected point at which the combined Trust Funds will be exhausted comes in 2033 – three years sooner than projected last year. At that time, there will be sufficient non-interest income coming in to pay about 75 percent of scheduled benefits.
- The projected actuarial deficit over the 75-year long-range period is 2.67 percent of taxable payroll -- 0.44 percentage point larger than in last year’s report.
- Over the 75-year period, the Trust Funds would require additional revenue equivalent to $8.6 trillion in present value dollars to pay all scheduled benefits.
“This year’s Trustees Report contains troubling, but not unexpected, projections about Social Security’s finances. It once again emphasizes that Congress needs to act to ensure the long-term solvency of this important program, and needs to act within four years to avoid automatic cuts to people receiving disability benefits,” said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security.
Other highlights of the Trustees Report include:
- Income including interest to the combined OASDI Trust Funds amounted to $805 billion in 2011. ($564 billion in net contributions, $24 billion from taxation of benefits, $114 billion in interest, and $103 billion in reimbursements from the General Fund of the Treasury—almost exclusively resulting from the 2011 payroll tax legislation.)
- Total expenditures from the combined OASDI Trust Funds amounted to $736 billion in 2011.
- Non-interest income fell below program costs in 2010 for the first time since 1983. Program costs are projected to exceed non-interest income throughout the remainder of the 75-year period.
- The assets of the combined OASDI Trust Funds increased by $69 billion in 2011 to a total of $2.7 trillion.
- During 2011, an estimated 158 million people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid payroll taxes.
- Social Security paid benefits of $725 billion in calendar year 2011. There were about 55 million beneficiaries at the end of the calendar year.
- The cost of $6.4 billion to administer the program in 2011 was a very low 0.9 percent of total expenditures.
- The combined Trust Fund assets earned interest at an effective annual rate of 4.4 percent in 2011.
The Board of Trustees is comprised of six members. Four serve by virtue of their positions with the federal government: Timothy F. Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury and Managing Trustee; Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security; Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services; and Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of Labor. The two public trustees are Charles P. Blahous, III and Robert D. Reischauer.
The 2012 Trustees Report will be posted at www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TR/2012/ on Monday afternoon.
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JOBS AND THE ECONOMY
President Obama inherited an economy in free fall, with huge deficits, skyrocketing health care costs, dwindling employment, and banking and housing markets on the brink of collapse. Working with the President, Democrats stabilized the financial system and helped to prevent a second Great Depression. An economy that was losing 700,000 jobs a month is now gaining jobs. We still have a long way to go, but we are now moving forward on the road to recovery.
President Obama and Democrats are fighting to strengthen our economy further and create jobs for American workers by ending tax loopholes for corporations, providing tax cuts to small businesses, investing in a clean-energy economy, and putting Americans to work rebuilding our infrastructure.
A few questions for Mitt Romney
Posted by
Brad Woodhouse, DNC Communications Director
We believe, as George Romney did 44 years ago, that the American people have the right to know how a presidential candidate earned his wealth, how and where he invests it, and whether he pays his fair share of taxes.
Long before Vanity Fair published its investigation of Mitt Romney and the millions of dollars he has stashed in tax havens around the globe, Romney had cemented his position as the most secretive candidate we've seen in decades. But last week's article is an important one. In revealing a man who has always put maximizing his own profits ahead of everything else, it raises a number of questions that demand answers—and tax returns—from the Romney campaign. Until we get them, we won't know whether he invested his money in places like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands to intentionally avoid paying U.S. taxes.
It's unprecedented for a presidential candidate to hide so much information about his personal finances. It was Romney's own father, George, who set the standard in 1968 when he ran for president, and his reasons are just as valid today. As Paul Krugman writes in today's New York Times, "The public understandably wanted to know both how [George Romney] had grown so rich and what he had done with his wealth; he obliged by releasing extensive information about his financial history." The senior Romney provided 12 years of tax returns because he felt that "one year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show."
One year—that's all his son has released to the American people, and only after he was heavily pressured to do so. Keep this in mind: Romney refuses to be transparent with the voting public, but four years ago, he supplied John McCain's presidential campaign with 23 years' worth of tax returns to be vetted as a potential running mate (and McCain chose Sarah Palin).
We believe, as George Romney did 44 years ago, that the American people have the right to know how a presidential candidate earned his wealth, how and where he invests it, and whether he pays his fair share of taxes. So let's take a look at what we do know—and what big questions remain that Romney needs to answer.
We know that Romney owned a shell corporation registered in Bermuda for nearly 15 years. He transferred the mysterious corporation to a blind trust in his wife’s name one day before taking office as governor. He also left the shell corporation off seven different personal financial disclosure statements he was required to file under state and federal law since 2001. But we still don't know: Does the Romney family still own the Bermudan shell corporation? If so, why won't his campaign admit it? And did Romney transfer ownership the day before he was sworn in an attempt to avoid disclosure?
We know that Romney keeps millions of his income offshore in the Cayman Islands. He also had $3 million in a Swiss bank account, which was recently closed. As Vanity Fair reported, Romney’s finances are also “deeply entangled” with his former firm Bain Capital’s offshore investment funds. The question here is: What taxes would Romney have paid if his money were invested in the U.S. instead of offshore tax havens?
The answers to these questions matter—and the refusal to respond is telling. Krugman writes, "Unless he does reveal the truth about his investments, we can only assume that he's hiding something seriously damaging."
Release those tax returns, Gov. Romney. Because good or bad, the American people deserve to know.
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Monday, July 9, 2012
President Obama on extending middle class tax cuts
Posted by
Lauren Peterson, barackobama.com
President Obama spoke today on the need for Congress to act now to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans, rather than hold them hostage to the debate over tax cuts for the wealthiest:
[M]ost people agree that we should not raise taxes on middle-class families or small businesses—not when so many folks are just trying to get by. Not when so many folks are still digging themselves out of the hole that was created by this great recession that we had, and at a time when the recovery is still fragile. And that’s why I’m calling on Congress to extend the tax cuts for the 98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 for another year.
If Congress doesn’t do this, millions of American families … could see their taxes go up by $2,200 starting on January 1st of next year. And that would be a big blow to working families, and it would be a drag on the entire economy. ...
I believe we should be able to come together and get this done. While I disagree on extending tax cuts for the wealthy, because we just can’t afford them, I recognize that not everybody agrees with me on this. On the other hand, we all say we agree that we should extend the tax cuts for 98 percent of the American people. Everybody says that. The Republicans say they don't want to raise taxes on the middle class. I don't want to raise taxes on the middle class.
So we should all agree to extend the tax cuts for the middle class. Let's agree to do what we agree on. Right? That’s what compromise is all about. Let’s not hold the vast majority of Americans and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy. We can have that debate. We can have that debate, but let's not hold up working on the thing that we already agree on.
In many ways, the fate of the tax cut for the wealthiest Americans will be decided by the outcome of the next election. My opponent will fight to keep them in place. I will fight to end them. But that argument shouldn’t threaten you. It shouldn’t threaten the 98 percent of Americans who just want to know that their taxes won’t go up next year.