Liberal groups worry president will cut deal on 'crown jewel' Social Security

The Hill ^ | 1/13/11 | Alexander Bolton

[markomalley]

A broad coalition of labor unions and liberal groups has launched an intense lobbying campaign directed at the White House in advance of President Obama’s State of the Union address.

These groups are concerned about Obama’s taciturn response to the proposal by his fiscal commission to gradually increase the retirement age and use a different calculation for cost-of-living adjustments.

Coalition partners held a conference call with liberal bloggers on Thursday afternoon to expand the public-relations campaign directed at the White House and Congress.

The Strengthen Social Security Campaign includes more than 200 member groups such as the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, Campaign for America’s Future, National Women’s Law Center, USAction and MoveOn.org.

Many of the groups were members of the Health Care for America Now campaign that worked alongside Obama to push healthcare reform through Congress.

Now that Republicans control the House and Obama is facing reelection, the political dynamic is different and liberal groups fear the president might be willing to cut a deal on Social Security. Labor unions and liberal groups worry Obama could endorse a boost in the retirement age or a change in cost-of-living adjustments when he discusses strategies for reducing the federal deficit later this month.

[oh8eleven]

I won't comment on medicare as I don't know enough about it.
I'm not on it, but my understanding is that despite decades of withdrawals from your paycheck, you still pay when you go on it.

• Part A (hospital) is premium free, but some still have to pay a monthly fee.
• Part B (doctors) is mandatory and costs $115 a month.
• Part D (drugs) is optional and costs anywhere from $15 - $200(?), depending on what plan you choose.

After all that, Medicare still only covers 80% of your costs plus there are a lot of co-pays, deductibles, etc.
My parents and in-laws were on it and they hated it.