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Bribing the Seniors.
Looks like the administration is going to use $13 billion to give seniors year-end bonuses, since they won't be receiving a Social Security cost-of-living increase this year. (That's mainly because we're not experiencing any inflation right, in fact, we're almost on the line of deflation.) But despite the fact that prices aren't rising, the senior lobby wants them dollars, and wants them now!
I agree with AEI's Andrew Biggs when he says that "this is a case of both Democrats and Republicans bending over backward to do the politically popular thing for seniors." True! And normally, given the lack of price increases, I would also agree with him that "there is essentially no substantive case for this on policy grounds." But we're still in the midst of this whole economic collapse thing, at a time when the government still needs to support demand. Giving seniors this money will be an effective stimulus -- they're not likely to be saving a huge proportion of the cash -- that will help get the economy moving again.
The article also discusses new initiatives in the works to funnel TARP money toward small-business loans and community banks. That's good news, as well, in terms of improving the stagnant employment market.
But, wow, seniors are just the whiniest political constituency out there. But that's how organizing works; other interest groups could take a lesson.
-- Tim Fernholz
COMMENTS (14)
You mean the interest groups that want tough financial regulation, breaking up the banks, and health care run without the profit motive? But I thought you said previously that those folks were shrill and unserious. Wevs.
Posted by: scott | October 15, 2009 10:41 AM
I try not to feed the trolls, but just so new readers don't get the wrong idea, I've never called any of those groups shrill or unserious, mostly because I agree with them.
Posted by: Tim Fernholz | October 15, 2009 10:45 AM
Yes, they may be whinny, but based on their understanding they have a right to. Think about it, they've been contributing to Social Security the longest, so they just want the benefits they've paid for and have been getting. The problem is I don't hear any politicians or major news networks giving a detailed and straightforward explaination of the sacrifices we the citizens have to make because of the recession. It seems they want to shield us from some of the more bleaker aspects of the situation.
Posted by: Ken | October 15, 2009 10:58 AM
You're kidding, right? I can't believe you're taking time and space for a bit of senior bashing. Look around you -- at the republican caucus, at the wall streeters who boo-hooed about their bonuses and got taxpayers to foot the bill, at the right wing moralists who use whining as a fundraising device. We're overwhelmed with groups more deserving of your complaints than senior citizens are. So, no, wow, senior are "the whiniest group out there."
Posted by: Anonymous | October 15, 2009 11:11 AM
So that means you supported either nationalizing the banks, unwinding them via bankruptcy, or downsizing the size of firms in the financial industry? And you were for single-payer or a robust public option (the Hacker one, open to 120 million enrollees) agressively and persistently, not taking watered-down and ineffective substitutes? My impression was that this wasn't the case, but you certainly have my apologies if I was mistaken about that.
Posted by: scott | October 15, 2009 11:30 AM
You do realize that the government has repeatedly fucked these people over by "reconfiguring" how inflation is counted? If They were still calculating social security benefits the way they were in the 80's, your average Senior would be recieving 50% more money than they current are.
But hey, if we pretend Seniors don't spend a sizeable chunk of their money on food (which is excluded from inflation for BS reasons) and ignore all the financial scamming involved in inflation numbers, then yes they are just whining. Just like, if you ignore the fact that all Tim Fernolz does is make apologies for the rich and the powerful then yes, he is an actual reporter and not a spin machine.
Posted by: soullite | October 15, 2009 11:39 AM
How many of seniors will pocket their $250 and then scream at their Congressman to keep the government's hands off Medicare?
Posted by: Northern Pike | October 15, 2009 11:57 AM
"Whiniest" wasn't the most diplomatic choice of words, but I get the distinct impression that Tim is in favor of the $250 bonus to seniors, and that far from bashing them, he thinks other interest groups should be as vocal as they are in making their demands.
As a senior who is fortunate enough to be able to put off collecting SS for a few more years, I'd rather see the bonus be a tax rebate so there'd be some element of means-testing involved.
Posted by: Swift Loris | October 15, 2009 1:25 PM
The whiniest political constituency out there would be the Pro Israel groups. That's coming from someone who has been and continues to be largely Pro Israel his entire life, and is quite pro senior.
Posted by: tosh | October 15, 2009 2:15 PM
Nothing like a bit of Jew bashing to start off a day.
Posted by: whoohoo | October 15, 2009 2:39 PM
I find myself continuously baffled, as a consumer, when I am told there is deflation. The only things I see that cost less are: TVs, netbooks and gasoline.
Try to eat any one of those!
Posted by: Carol | October 15, 2009 2:55 PM
whohoo wrote, Nothing like a bit of Jew bashing to start off a day.
Nothing like a bit of spurious equating of questioning of the Israeli lobby and anti-Semitism to end a day.
Posted by: liberal | October 15, 2009 3:53 PM
@ liberal:
I think it's a response automatically generated by a computer somewhere.
The consistency of the charge, along with its illogical nature, makes it fail the Turing test IMO.
Yeah, I think the talking-heads on TV who level it are androids.
(As to how the post above may have bypassed the Captcha... If they've got androids, they've got computers powerful enough to bypass the Captcha.)
Posted by: V.O.R. | October 15, 2009 4:54 PM
The remarkable thing is that seniors didn't even have to whine. The $250 bonus was proposed months ago, when it first seemed likely that there wouldn't be any COLA in 2010.
Not *that's* political power: having money thrown your way without even having to ask for it.
Is it the right thing? I'm a senior, and I don't need it. But others probably do, and I agree with Fernholz: we're still in economic quicksand, and on balance it's a plus.
Posted by: Gerald | October 15, 2009 5:08 PM