Friday Alert   June 23, 2006
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. -  Washington DC, 20006 - (202) 974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.or

White House Sets its Sights on Social Security Again
Less than two weeks after Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA), head of the House Ways and Means Committee's Social Security panel, said that privatizing Social Security would top Congress' agenda in 2007, White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has echoed the notion in the Wall Street Journal.  Bolten said that he is trying to lay the groundwork for a renewed effort to "reform" both Social Security and Medicare next year, and that President Bush and his aides may have learned from their failed attempt to push through Social Security reform in 2005.  A proposal to make Social Security solvent through private accounts, devised by former Clinton White House aide Jeffrey Liebman, former Bush economic aide Andrew Samwick, and Maya MacGuineas, a former adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), appeared in CongressDaily AM on Monday.  The plan would bring new money into the system through lifting the payroll tax cap to 90 percent of payroll and a new, mandatory 1.5 percent contribution into private accounts.  The plan's authors say the proposal represents the political compromises that would be necessary to make the Social Security program solvent.  "Ideas that until recently were only spoken behind closed doors, because they were so unpopular, are now being seen in the press," said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance.  "We should all be concerned by the statement from the White House Chief of Staff, the recent comments from Rep. McCrery, and the fact that this plan includes private accounts."

Drug Prices Rising Despite Part D Competition
Two reports released this week indicate that prescription drug prices have risen sharply since Part D went into effect.  An AARP study found that the prices for brand-name drugs rose 3.9 percent from January to the end of March, the largest quarterly price increase in 6 years, and four times the general inflation rate.  In a separate study, Families USA reported that insurers participating in the Medicare program passed on the price increase for 19 of the top 20 drugs prescribed to seniors, with a median increase of 3.8 percent.  The Families USA study also noted that drug prices secured by the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) - which negotiates with drug companies - for the top 20 drugs in April were 46% lower than the lowest prices charged by Part D plans.  "As we've said from the beginning, Medicare must be allowed to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies," said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance.  "Expecting the insurance companies to drive down prices through competition is not working."

Senate Denies Lowest-Wage Workers a Raise
The Senate rejected a Democratic plan to raise the minimum wage on Wednesday.  The vote was 52-46 in favor of the amendment, but 60 votes were required to end debate on the measure.  The amendment, attached to a defense authorization bill by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), would have gradually increased the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour by 2009.  Minimum wage workers have not seen a pay raise in nine years, and a recent report revealed the wage's buying power has fallen to a 51-year low in the face of rising health, energy and housing costs.  In the House, leaders are refusing to allow a vote on increasing the minimum wage, but did permit a vote last week that prevented blocking a $3,300 annual increase in their own base salaries.
 
House Votes for Partial Repeal of the Estate Tax
The House voted 269-156 in favor of a partial repeal of the estate tax on Thursday.  Previously, on June 8, the Senate was unable to muster the votes to abolish the tax on inherited wealth altogether, and it, too, will next consider a partial repeal as a compromise.  The estate tax currently affects less than 1% of families, and because it is so heavily concentrated on the wealthiest Americans, it is the most progressive tax in the country.

Minnesota Adds its Clout
The national Alliance welcomes to the fold the Minnesota Alliance for Retired Americans, the 26th state chapter to be chartered.  At a founding convention on Monday, Minnesota's members elected Dan Michel as its President.

World Loses Two Legends
Marty Berger, 76, the President of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans, died of cancer on Sunday, June 18th near his home in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.  Throughout his career in organized labor, Marty helped hundreds of thousands of workers join unions to achieve better living standards, dignity and respect on the job.  He spent years persuading workers in textile mills in the South to join the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), according to his wife, Helen Berger.  Last year, Governor Ed Rendell appointed Marty to the Pennsylvania Council of Aging.  "Marty Berger was an energetic and effective activist, and he managed to accomplish his goals while treating people with such kindness.  We will miss him terribly, but our memory of him will live on through all of the positive change that he achieved for Pennsylvanians, garment workers, and retirees across the country," said George J. Kourpias, President of the Alliance.

Evelyn "Evy" Dubrow, 95, organized labor's most well-known lobbyist during her four-plus decades with ILGWU and its successor union, died of a heart attack on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.  She passed away at George Washington Hospital after several days in a coma.  Just 4 feet 11 inches tall and famous for working 15-hour days, Evy sometimes visited 30 senators in a day.  She was named the ILGWU's chief Washington lobbyist in 1956, and represented ILGWU and its successor union, UNITE! (United Needleworkers, Industrial and Textile Employees) until two years ago.  She was such a fixture on Capitol Hill that House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. (D-MA) assigned her a chair among the Congressional doorkeepers' chairs so she would not have to stand all day while waiting to speak with House members.  George Kourpias said, "Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) was right when he stated, 'Evelyn Dubrow is the union label.'  She was a powerful voice for labor and for social legislation, including civil rights, fair trade laws, and Medicare."  President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.

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