Compromise deal to raise the debt ceiling will harm consumers
August 03, 2011
By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Like many, I am relieved that Congress finally passed something to raise the debt limit. Like many, I don’t think the deal was that great.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said the compromise is bad for consumers:
The deal that has been struck is not balanced, as I would have preferred. It does achieve the laudable goal of reducing the deficit, but does so with only cuts, even though a significant majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, favor closing loopholes for corporations and tax increases on the wealthiest Americans to make sure everyone is paying their fair share.
AARP said the organization is gratified that the President and Congress didn’t cut Social Security, Medicare, and long-term care in the first round of deficit reduction. Its CEO A. Barry Rand said:
We are concerned that a fast-track committee process will deny Americans a voice in the discussion about critical tax, health, and retirement issues. We also are concerned about the potential use of a trigger that would arbitrarily cut provider payments under Medicare, which could unfairly shift costs to seniors.
Seniors have worked their entire lives to achieve a level of health and economic security in retirement… With the compounded effect of loss of retirement savings and home equity, high unemployment, and rising health care costs, cuts to the benefits seniors have earned could undermine the standard of living of not just those with limited incomes, but middle class seniors who have median incomes of only $18,500.
All the hype and angst about raising the debt ceiling certainly has left consumers demoralized. Republicans made it clear that they favor what corporations want – smaller, weaker government – rather than what consumers need – getting Main Street back on its feet.
We’ll just have to see what happens next. Republicans seem to want to bring the workings of the country to a standstill, just because a Democrat was elected president in 2008. I sincerely hope that they won’t bring the economy to its knees again.
You can obtain professional help from someone who is not trying to relieve you of even more money.
Posted by: Accounting Software | September 05, 2011 at 06:22 AM