Save $Billions!

Military, Civil Service (CSRS), and Social Security retirees got an automatic annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in January, 2009, just as they do every year. Naturally, the millions who retired within the past 12 months all received less than this year's full 5.8% COLA, right? Wrong, because Social Security (unlike the other 2 federal retirement programs) does not pro-rate its COLAs. As an example of what a large difference this can make in individual cases, look at the 2009 raise for those entitled to $2,000 monthly checks after only 1 month of retirement in 2008: $0 under the military system; $10 ($120 per year) under Civil Service (CSRS); and $116 ($1,392 per year) under Social Security. If you agree that such huge disparities between our federal retirement systems are not only unfair, but are an incredible waste of our Social Security taxes, then please join the petition's author in urging Congress to finally start pro-rating Social Security COLAs!

To:  Our United States Congress

As citizens who are deeply concerned about the economic future of our country, we urge every member of Congress to support President Obama in his administration's commitment to go through federal spending "line by line" to eliminate waste.[1] To aid in this effort, we would like to draw your attention to an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars in the Social Security retirement program.

To eliminate it, all you have to do is pro-rate annual Social Security Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) at 1/12 for each month of eligibility during the previous 12 months. This would bring it in line with the way COLAs are applied to Civil Service retirees, while still being more generous than the quarterly system utilized for the military. The average Social Security retiree is currently receiving approximately $1,153 per month.[2] With about 80 million of the disproportionately large "baby boom" generation eligible to sign up for Social Security over the next two decades,[3] this simple change would obviously save $billions. A more detailed explanation follows:

In January of each year, all those receiving federal retirement benefits are awarded a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to keep up with inflation. Unlike the Civil Service and military retirement systems, however, Social Security does not reduce its COLAs for those who have been collecting benefits for less than a full year. This not only results in huge first year COLA disparities between Social Security and the other two large federal retirement systems, but within the Social Security system itself. Here is how this year's 5.8% COLA was applied to the monthly pay of recent retirees:

SOCIAL SECURITY - 5.8% for everyone officially credited with retirement in 2008.
(www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/2009cola-pr.htm)

CIVIL SERVICE (CSRS) - Pro-rated by the month in which the annuity began.
(www.opm.gov/retire/annuity/cola/2009cola.asp#CSRS)

December 2007 - 5.8%
January 2008 - 5.3%
February 2008 - 4.8%
March 2008 - 4.4%
April 2008 - 3.9%
May 2008 - 3.4%
June 2008 - 2.9%
July 2008 - 2.4%
August 2008 - 1.9%
September 2008 - 1.5%
October 2008 - 1.0%
November 2008 - 0.5%

MILITARY - For those who first became a member of the uniformed services on or after September 8, 1980, pro-rated by the quarter in which the annuity began.
(www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/retired-pay/retired-cola or
http://www.moaa.org/lac/lac_issues/lac_issues_update/lac_issues_update_081017.htm)

January, February, March 2008 - 5.0%
April, May, June 2008 - 3.8%
July, August, September 2008 - 1.2%
October, November, December 2008 - 0%

This meant that individuals credited with only 1 month of Social Security retirement benefits in 2008 received just as big a COLA as those with at least 12 months, and a great deal more than those credited with only 1 month under the other two retirement systems:

5.8% - Social Security
0.5% - Civil Service (CSRS)
0% - Military

Such huge disparities are not only unfair, but they are unnecessarily costing taxpayers $billions in a retirement program with $trillions of projected deficits.[4] Pro-rating Social Security COLAs is the obvious solution, and we believe the most reasonable method is the one currently being utilized for Civil Service retirees: 1/12 COLA for each month of eligibility.

LINKS:
[1] http://www.truthout.org/112508S or
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-names-budget-director-vows-program-cuts-2008-11-25.html
[2] http://www.ssa.gov/cola/colafacts2009.htm
[3] http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/LifeStages/story?id=3732745
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/babyboomer-firstcheck-pr.htm
[4] http://perotcharts.com/category/social-security-charts/page/13/

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Save $Billions! Petition to Our United States Congress was created by and written by Tom Foreman (taforeman@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.