Unemployment Discussion

[WhatMoney]

The thing that gets me about why whatmoney and folks that think like whatmoney are so wrong is when has the govt ever been right???

When have we ever been told the truth on anything? They are telling all the senior citizens that there won't be a raise in s.s. due to no price inflation. Anyone buy any food and gas lately?

Unless you are a child you have to be out of your mind to put faith in the govt knowing they have such a lousy track record. They are wrong almost every time and wind up destroying everything they touch.

And once again you fail to answer my question about the BLS UI numbers - no surprise there banca. Sticking to the facts would not be in your partisan interest.

The difference between conservative reactionaries like yourself and me is that I deal in facts, and you deal in opinions tainted toward your point of view.

I know a lot about Social Security and cost of living increases for Seniors. What you fail to understand is that two years ago SSA increased the COLA by nearly 6%, the highest COLA increase since 1982 (when inflation was over 10%). This was caused by increasing food and energy prices in 2007 and the highest inflation rate in 17 years of 4.1%. Since the SS COLA is determined by the average COLA for the months of July - September for this year compared to last year, the 2008 COLA was actually higher than the cost of living once energy prices recovered. Seniors have been getting above the inflation rate income ever since. And until annual inflation becomes higher than it was for FY 2007 ending in September, there can be no COLA increases for Seniors. This is a well known fact, but in partisan politics facts make no difference. You ignore the facts as do all the conservatives. Nice example you have provided here.

Now there will be increases for the 30% of seniors choosing a Medicare Advantage policy instead of regular Medicare, starting in January 2011. Those increase in health care costs will be reflected in the COLA SS increase for 2012, and the SSA estimates about a 2% COLA for 2012. But the inflation rate has remained low for the last 2 years, up to about this fall.

I buy groceries, gasoline, and pay for health costs every month. The price of groceries started to decrease last year. Gasoline has remained the same (around $2.75/gl) here for the last two years. My health insurance has not had a premium increase for the same coverage for the last two years, and my rent has also not increased in two years. Prices are not increased in a recession! My Medicare Advantage health insurance premium will finally increase starting in January 2011. But persons on regular Medicare will still have no increase in their Part B premium next year, since there was no SS COLA increase.

Persons dependent on SS income will finally fall behind starting soon (since food prices are just starting to increase) and this will continue through 2011. But it is not a "lying" government that caused this - it is the real inflation data that has remained low (and negative for 1 1/2 years) that determines the next year's COLA. This has been the system forever - There is always a delay in COLA when inflation increases after the October COLA calculation for the next year.

Of course Seniors like to complain and whine about no COLA increase like everyone else in this economy. They don't want to look at the facts - they have been doing just fine with there 6% annual increase since 2008. And as one, and one who advises other seniors, I am in a position to know. I have had no increase in my household expenses for the last two years. In fact some essential items are still dropping in price, like red table wine and hard drives for example.

[Meatstick]

Prices are not increased during a recession ?? Put down the kool-aid and stop being a shill for the left.

[WhatMoney]

Prices are not increased during a recession ?? Put down the kool-aid and stop being a shill for the left.

Prices on average have not increased during most of this latest "great recession". Tell me how much home prices have increased in the last two years? Or gasoline, which was $4.25/g a few years ago, or rental rates which follow home prices. Obviously some prices rise and some fall but the net inflation rate has been flat to negative during most of this recession. If consumers cannot afford to buy a product do you think the business response is to raise the price of the product making it even more unaffordable? The only place that happens is in the unregulated private health care industry...

The Social Security COLA is determined by the CPI-W, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. It has over 100 price components, and the net CPI-W increase has been small or negative since the fall of 2008. The CPI-W will not exceed it's July-Sept 2008 index value until next year, and by law there can be no SS COLA increase until that happens.

I am posting the charts for the COLA and CPI-W in this thread. You can try to understand the facts and the data, or just keep up the conservative rhetoric and ignore the facts.

[WhatMoney]

Gasoline prices are a good example of why there has been no COLA increase for the last two years. The COLA was determined for 2009 during the gasoline price peak of the summer/fall of 2008. Obviously there has been no inflation referenced to the > $4/g peak since then. In fact prices dropped to $1.60/g while the COLA was based on $4/g prices. Benefits cannot be reduced even if the COLA decreases.



Discount (cash only) gasoline prices are about 20 cents less per gallon than this chart, btw, which samples the most expensive gas stations in downtown Portland.

[WhatMoney]

In case you've lost track, the screen shot below shows why the COLA has not increased since 2008, and counters this silly false statement:

When have we ever been told the truth on anything? They are telling all the senior citizens that there won't be a raise in s.s. due to no price inflation. Anyone buy any food and gas lately?

.

[WhatMoney]

CPI-W data collected by thousands of workers in most cities in the USA every month. Real people with shopping lists that go to grocery and department stores and actually buy the items to verify the price, and use local price data for real estate, rentals, gas and utility costs, etc. All this data is reported back to the BLS and is listed each month as shown here. There is also data published for each U.S. city the BLS surveys, since prices vary throughout the country. This is what the conservatives call a "fascist bureaucracy agency run by a corrupt government that makes up stats to justify their own existence for a lying deceptive government".

All those thousands of government civil servants somehow collecting false data from the stores and businesses throughout the nation each month just to fool the public. Are you people nuts?





.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t04.htm

[banca rotta]

It's so simple Whatmoney. The BIG FACT I go by is the lousy track record.

If they were right most of the time (I understand no one can be 100% correct), but if they were right a lot more then they were I would say what you are waiting for and that's "you're right and I'm wrong".

You really look so ridiculous and everyone here can see it on how you cheer lead for the last place, losing team. The US govt since the birth of the USA as well as pretty much all other govts have a long history of lying, cheating and deceiving and are wrong so much. It's what politics is all about.

I show allegiance to the flag and the constitution. Not the liars and cheaters. We all see who's corner you're in.

[WhatMoney]

The US govt since the birth of the USA as well as pretty much all other govts have a long history of lying, cheating and deceiving and are wrong so much. It's what politics is all about.

I show allegiance to the flag and the constitution. Not the liars and cheaters. We all see who's corner you're in.

And that belief is what makes you, and most of the others in this political forum, RWNJ's. You are a long way from understanding the constitution or the "flag". If you hate the government so much, why don't you just start a Revolution? The South tried that once, and as Palin would say "how'd that work out for ya?"

[tobee43]

It's so simple Whatmoney. The BIG FACT I go by is the lousy track record.

If they were right most of the time (I understand no one can be 100% correct), but if they were right a lot more then they were I would say what you are waiting for and that's "you're right and I'm wrong".

You really look so ridiculous and everyone here can see it on how you cheer lead for the last place, losing team. The US govt since the birth of the USA as well as pretty much all other govts have a long history of lying, cheating and deceiving and are wrong so much. It's what politics is all about.

I show allegiance to the flag and the constitution. Not the liars and cheaters. We all see who's corner you're in.

<--------standing and applauding!!!!!!...(in the CORRECT corner with banca).... it's really difficult to tell just who is on the RIGHT isn't it???


i have never seen someone so much to the RIGHT and think they are always RIGHT!!
but sure do know.... banca...however, i guess there always needs to be 3 sides to the story...OURS....HIS...and the actual truth?? LOL!!!!

[WhatMoney]

<--------standing and applauding!!!!!!...(in the CORRECT corner with banca).... it's really difficult to tell just who is on the RIGHT isn't it???
i have never seen someone so much to the RIGHT and think they are always RIGHT!!
but sure do know.... banca...however, i guess there always needs to be 3 sides to the story...OURS....HIS...and the actual truth?? LOL!!!!

Do you EVER have anything useful or on topic to say tobee? You have contributed absolutely nothing to this sticky thread about unemployment. Silly comments, hand waving, and more nutty comments - is that all you can do? Can you back up anything you say? I've seen no evidence of it. Are you capable of a discussion based on facts? I've seen no evidence of it...

You are a compulsive poster. Content does not seem to concern you. On October 28, 2010, you posted 125 times on the BK forum. Of those 125 posts, how many contained any real content? I'm tired of you crapping on serious threads. This thread is for discussion of unemployment, not cheerleading for RWNJ political rants.

[tobee43]

Do you EVER have anything useful or on topic to say tobee? You have contributed absolutely nothing to this sticky thread about unemployment. Silly comments, hand waving, and more nutty comments - is that all you can do? Can you back up anything you say? I've seen no evidence of it. Are you capable of a discussion based on facts? I've seen no evidence of it...

You are a compulsive poster. Content does not seem to concern you. On October 28, 2010, you posted 125 times on the BK forum. Of those 125 posts, how many contained any real content? I'm tired of you crapping on serious threads. This thread is for discussion of unemployment, not cheerleading for RWNJ political rants.

really....i have always aspired after 6 years of college to be a "cheerleader"...so i'm really glad that i have finally accomplished my goal.

i find it interesting that you are so bored that you have the time and energy to count and be so interested in my posts...and the date that i posted them...thank you, i appreciate that.

and who's serious about what??? we are the ones actually collecting unemployment insurance and may i remind you...YOU ARE NOT...you are not even effected by this...even so, you posts your copy and pasted materials and i still maintain respect and control through out. you feel by continuing to attack my character that that somehow makes you more correct. i think not. i have never made this personal and you continue to...that is your choice.


it may surprised you to know, how many people have actually gained some valuable information and have pm's for thanks...how many have you rec'd...

i still enjoy getting your goat...so don't expect me to stop!!

[tobee43]

The thing that gets me about why whatmoney and folks that think like whatmoney are so wrong is when has the govt ever been right???

When have we ever been told the truth on anything? They are telling all the senior citizens that there won't be a raise in s.s. due to no price inflation. Anyone buy any food and gas lately?

Since LBJ created medicade and all the Great Society programs they all projected how much it will cost and it's all over ten times their original projections and we still have the poverty this was supposed to fix.

All of their projected deficits and the costs of all the wars are far higher then originally projected.

George Bush 41 asked the taxpayers for a bank bailout to save the s&l and said he will put safeguards in place to see that this never happens again except 20 years later his little boy did the same exact thing.

Unless you are a child you have to be out of your mind to put faith in the govt knowing they have such a lousy track record. They are wrong almost every time and wind up destroying everything they touch.

i so agree...and actually it's our view that is much more to the "left" than that of the other you speak...these statements are as right-winged as one can possible get...it just doesn't get any more "right" winged that this

these unfortunate souls, the conservative, non-movables...with these attitudes, have highly contributed to the exact state of this country....it's amazing to me, that one would consider our point of view to the right!! but then again, we have to understand the source ...or do we...not really. we are living the pain and not those who shoot off rants and post unfounded copied and pasted stats...it is indeed sad for all of us...and unfortunately, i believe it's this type of thinking that got this country into the mess we are in today.

and, while it's so sad that we have to deal with such narrow minded attitudes, we also, with all truthfulness, need to maintain the respect to each others opinions. although, many times that appears to be only a one way street...

i just am still hoping the bill in congress will go through next week...(right...FAT chance)...but we can always hope..can't we??

[WhatMoney]

i still enjoy getting your goat...so don't expect me to stop!!

Oh I don't - you enjoy crapping on threads, filling them up with nonsense. You have never responded to facts. You still don't understand what the CPS is, even though it has been around for the last 70 years. You have no interest in educating yourself on how the government actually works. If you did you would have researched the CPS, and then like an adult, posted a correction to your posts that falsely claim UI is used to determine the monthly unemployment rates. But you can't seem to admit you are wrong, and are unwilling to look up the facts yourself.

I know it's all a game to you - posting 100 times/day - telling the same old story over and over. You would make a great WalMart greeter.

[Flamingo]

This thread has obviously run its course and is being closed.