Action Alert # 56 – Hanging in There Through Rough Waters!
There is so much going on in Washington (or not) these days, that it seems like it isn’t the greatest time to mention the GPO/WEP to our legislators. Our goal during times like these is to continue educating people about how wrong it was to pass a bill that has cut or eliminated our earned Social Security benefits. The offsets were instituted during the last major overhaul of Social Security. The proposed “chained CPI” will mean even more benefit cuts for retirees. We must work to prevent new cuts and repeal the GPO/WEP. If we each commit ourselves to spending even a few minutes each week, we can make our voices heard.
Could you please do at least two of the items below? Thank you!
Easy links to sites that we should use regularly:
1. NEA— they have just fixed their GPO/WEP link. Use it to email your legislators. ( Let NEA know that we are still out here)
http://www.capwiz.com/nea/
2. Tell AARP! There are two million of us who are retired and not getting the Social Security benefits we have earned. You must register to comment, but AARP needs to hear from us! They don’t really understand the effects of the GPO/WEP.
http://www.aarp.org/about-
3. Bookmark your Senators’ and Congressperson’s contact pages from their websites (find them at www.senate.gov and www.house.gov ) You can call aides or write letters or postcards to their local office (paper doesn’t get through D.C. security easily).
Check www.thomas.loc.gov for the Senate bill S.896and the House bill H.R.1795 to see if your representatives in Congress have already co-sponsored the bills so you can thank them.
OR:
Write a local paper. One of our members, Glenna Burns, sent this to a Texas paper.
These offsets are simply unfair. My husband paid into Social Security for many years while I was his wife, but I can’t draw any spousal benefits. I was an educator and paid into the Teacher Retirement System. TRS and Social Security are two entirely separate systems. I don’t expect the gas company to furnish me with electricity just because I paid my gas bill. I don’t expect the gas company not to furnish me gas because I paid my electric bill. I need both. I pay for both.
Great job, Glenna! Here is a link to her whole letter:
Make speaking out about GPO/WEP part of your computer routine. We need you!
Thank you all!
Repeal the WEP and GPO! For more information, go to ssfairness.org.
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