Thoughts from Thair
President's Message Board

(previous "Thoughts from Thair")

We Deliver!!!

I talked last year about the fact that no one seemed to be listening to older Americans. It seemed like everyone seemed to know what was best for seniors but no one ever took the time to stop, ask and then listen to what seniors had to say. We vowed to change that and started our Listen campaign to ask what older Americans thought about a variety of subjects from health care to Medicare to Social Security. We heard loud and clear about the impact that a zero cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) had on your everyday life. We heard how you felt it was unfair for the government to fail to keep their promise that the purchasing power of your social security check would not be eroded by inflation. We promised last year that once we Listened and understood the problem we would act, and we have done just that. We first sponsored a study concerning the calculation of the consumer price index (CPI) used to calculate your COLA Then we worked closely with Congressman Duncan to bring about the introduction of the CPI for Seniors Act of 2010, HR-5305.

This bill requires the government to compute an accurate and honest CPI for seniors, one that reflects the true impact of the economy on older Americans. We feel strongly that our government needs to keep its promise to seniors by creating an accurate CPI for seniors, and with your help, we can MAKE SURE THAT IT DOES JUST THAT! We know that Congressman Duncan and the other Members of Congress who have already signed on as co-sponsors will need your support to get this bill passed. We've asked you to support our efforts by participating in our virtual hearing, one that gives each of you the opportunity to testify on the impact a zero COLA has on your daily lives. We asked you to participate in this virtual hearing and you responded. We got the first wave of responses and they were excellent, I talked about some of the first responses in my previous message, but a hearing is conducted by our elected officials to hear from those most impacted by government action. I promised Congressman Duncan and those who responded to our virtual hearing that I would personally deliver those statements. As you can see by the picture below, I fulfilled that promise. Congressman Duncan was thrilled to see how many older Americans supported this new CPI and I will work to deliver your responses to others in Congress. We will continue to make sure your voices are heard on Capitol Hill!

We have scheduled a House of Representatives press briefing on June 30th to highlight how important this bill is. Supporters from Congress have agreed to participate. We want to continue to DELIVER the message that older Americans across this great Nation expect their government to keep its promise and to finally create an accurate and honest CPI for seniors. Please continue to send in your comments via our virtual hearing by clicking HERE. Forward this message to your family and friends, and urge them to act as well. Your voice is being heard and we look forward to hearing from each of you. Together we can get H.R.5305, the CPI for Seniors Act, passed and signed into law.

(previous "Thoughts from Thair")