Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday. [...]

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the financial meltdown, the House Education and Labor Committee was hearing from retirement savings and budget analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."

Yet, John McCain stlil wants to privatize Social Security.

And while Sarah Palin is in Florida promising that John McCain will "protect' entitlement programs, his economic advisers are telling the press that there will be massive cuts into Medicare and Medicaid. Perhaps she hadn't read in the newspapers her what her campaign wants to do just yet.

District of Columbia Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton will lead a group of concerned current and future Social Security recipients to the Republican National Committee headquarters to deliver a Social Security birthday card and a cake to Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan and Sen. John McCain as a reminder that the American people have said no once and they will say no again to privatization.

Also tomorrow, former Vice President Walter Mondale, and long-time Minnesota human-rights advocate Dr. Josie Johnson will kick off a groundbreaking new "Seniors Talking to Seniors" program in Minnesota, which will host the Republican National Convention in September. Vice President Mondale will also discuss Senator Obama's comprehensive plan to protect Social Security, strengthen retirement savings, make affordable health care available to every American and to protect and honor our seniors.

Over the past week, events have taken place all around the country in the last seven days, from Michigan to Florida, from Idaho to Ohio, and from Maine to Alaska, highligting the incredible burden families in every state would face without Social Security. A recent report from the Institute for America's Future, a non-profit think tank, showed that Social Security privatization would cut lifetime benefits by almost half a million dollars, and would make 8.6 million senior citizens vulnerable to poverty.

"The American people said 'no' to George W. Bush and John McCain when they tried to privatize Social Security, and they'll say the same loud and clear to John McCain this November for promising more of the same," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. "The same people who brought you Enron can't be trusted to gamble away the Social Security trust fund on the ups and downs of the stock market. John McCain is wrong on the privatization of Social Security, and he's the wrong choice for America's future."

Below is a sampling of some of the events that will take place tomorrow:

• Colorado: Coloradan retirees will celebrate Social Security's 73rd anniversary denouncing McCain's plan to privatize Social Security in Aspen where McCain will be schmoozing wealthy donors.
• Minnesota: In Minnesota, host to the Republican National Convention, former Vice President and Presidential nominee Walter Mondale will join Minnesota human-rights advocate Dr. Josie Johnson to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of Social Security by kicking off a groundbreaking new "Seniors Talking to Seniors" program.
• Michigan:
• In Flint, MI, State Senator Deb Cherry (D-Burton), who served on Gov. Granholm's Long Term Care Commission, will headline a Social Security a Social Security rally on the need to fight privatization.
• In Grand Rapids, MI, Kent County Commissioner Paul Mayhue will celebrate the anniversary of Social Security with a cake that says "Don't Privatize Social Security!"
• Maine: In Portland and Bangor, ME, the state Democratic Party will celebrate the anniversary of Social Security by making 2,008 calls in each county of the state highlighting John McCain's and the Republican Party's desire to privatize Social Security.
• Vermont: In Monpelier, VT, state party leaders will mark the anniversary with a news conference highlighting a report by the Campaign for America's Future showing that the Bush-McCain Social Security privatization plan could throw 19,000 Vermont seniors into poverty.
• Ohio: In Columbus and Cleveland, OH, Governor Howard Dean will commemorate the anniversary of Social Security during the Democratic National Committee's Register for Change bus tour. Governor Dean will point to McCain's support for Social Security privatization as a key reason why Americans must continue to register to vote.
• New Mexico: Deputy Secretary of Aging and Long Term Care Patsy Trujillo and State Senate District 10 Candidate Victor Raigoza will join with concerned New Mexican voters to reject the Bush-McCain privatization plan outside John McCain's office in Albuquerque.
• Louisiana: A group of defenders of Social Security will gather in Baton Rouge to highlight 73 successful years of Social Security working to protect Louisiana's seniors and citizens with disabilities from falling into poverty. The group will deliver a cake commemorating the birthday to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy's local headquarters.
• Nebraska: Democratic Candidate for Congress Jim Esch will hold a press conference tomorrow morning in Omaha to mark Social Security's 73rd Birthday and draw major contrasts with Congressman Lee Terry on Social Security policy.
• Mississippi: Concerned citizens will meet at the Mississippi Capitol tomorrow to mark the 73rd birthday of the Social Security Program with a birthday cake and highlight their staunch opposition to Republican John McCain's plan to privatize Social Security.
• Arizona: A group of Social Security recipients, Arizona Democratic Party Chair Don Bivens and Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans President Doug Hart will gather to highlight 73 successful years of Social Security working to protect Arizona's seniors and citizens with disabilities from falling into poverty.
• Utah: Delegates to the Democratic National Convention will discuss John McCain's plans to privatize Social Security, which threatens the incomes of thousands of Utahans.

More events will take place in New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and others.

And some of the events from the last seven days:

• Mississippi: "Mississippi Democrats Take Stance Against Social Security...Mississippi Democratic Party leaders brought a hot topic to the table Thursday as they criticized Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain's Social Security plan at a press conference in the state capitol. "We will not support any efforts to privatize the most successful anti-poverty program in our nation," said Barbara Blackmon, vice chair of Mississippi Democratic Party. "For anyone who has witnessed our failing national economy, it's more than obvious we shouldn't bet on Wall Street and risk the financial security of thousands of people who depend on Social Security." [Fox 40 News, 8/7/08]
• Indiana: On Thursday, August 7th, Congressman Andre Carson spoke on the need to protect Hoosier families from the dangers of Social Security privatization at the East end of Veterans Memorial Plaza directly across from the Federal Building in Indianapolis.
• Michigan: On Thursday, August 7, U.S. Senator Carl Levin spoke with 40 Detroit area seniors about the need to halt the privatization attacks on Social Security once and for all. In response to McCain's calling Social Security "a disgrace," Levin said "It's the opposite of a disgrace." Levin said Social Security is "a fair and stable way of keeping millions of retirees out of poverty." [Detroit News 8/7/08]
• Georgia: Leaders from the Democratic Party of Georgia and Chatham County Democratic Party, as well as First Congressional District Democratic candidate Bill Gillespie held a Press Conference Thursday August 7 to discuss the impact privatizing Social Security would have on Georgians. The event was held at 11:00 a.m. in Savannah's Johnson Square off Bull Street.
• Louisiana: Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Director Britton Loftin was joined by State Senator and Democratic Congressional Candidate Don Cravins Jr., as well as current and future Social Security recipients on the dangers of privatization outside the Lake Charles Social Security office in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
• Tennessee: Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Gray Sasser joined Bob Tuke, the winner of the August 7th Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, on a conference call on Friday, August 8th to address the economy and the dangers of Social Security privatization.
• Virginia: State Senator Donald McEachin and Delegate Frank Hall joined Richmond senior citizens Friday at the State Capitol to discuss the importance of protecting Social Security and the potential impact of McCain/Bush-style privatization plans.
• North Carolina: Seniors and experts including Reva McNair, president of Senior Democrats of North Carolina, and Jerry Cooper, executive director of the North Carolina Assisted Living Association came together on Thursday August 7th to sound the alarm on the long term economic impact the McCain-Bush style privatization plan for Social Security would have on North Carolinians.
• Alaska: Concerned citizens gathered at the Anchorage Senior Center for a Retirement Security Forum on Thursday August 7th to sound the alarm over the impact Senator John McCain's privatization plan would have on Alaskans.
• Florida: Seniors from Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Lee County gathered to oppose the John McCain-George W. Bush plan to privatize Social Security.
• Oregon: DPO Chair Meredith Wood Smith joined by concerned citizens and her 3 year old grandson, gathered to discuss the impact Senator John McCain's privatization plan would have on Oregonians on Friday August 8th.

Roosevelt notes that, when President Roosevelt created Social Security, he did so over the objection of a small conservative minority who "believed that government should not have a role in ensuring a retirement with dignity… John McCain agrees with that old way of thinking." Last month, McCain told an audience in Colorado that the way Social Security has operated for 73 years is an "absolute disgrace." He has consistently supported President Bush's reckless plan to privatize Social Security, even touring the country with the President in 2005 to promote the failed Bush plan. McCain even voted to raise the retirement age.

Roosevelt concludes the video by saying "On the 70th anniversary of Social Security, Americans stood together and said no to George Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security. On this anniversary, let's make sure John McCain hears the same message. Tell John McCain to keep his hands off of our Social Security."

To watch the video, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L24eLUdT6bc

The following is a full script:

DNC Web Video:
"Roosevelt"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L24eLUdT6bc

"It's hard to remember now, but before Social Security, nearly half of America's seniors lived in poverty. After a lifetime of playing by the rules and working hard, there was no guarantee of a secure retirement.

"My grandfather, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a majority of Americans thought that was wrong.

"They believed that lifting our seniors out of poverty is a reflection of our nation's core values.

"That's why my grandfather signed the Social Security act seventy three years ago today. One of the great successes of the 20th Century, today Social Security lifts nearly 13 million seniors and 1.3 million children out of poverty.

"Back in 1935, a small minority did not share those values. They opposed the creation of Social Security because they believed that government should not have a role in ensuring a retirement with dignity or helping seniors stay out of poverty. They said, "You're on your own".

"John McCain agrees with that old way of thinking. Like President Bush, he wants to privatize our Social Security, turning it into a gamble with our futures, and making 8.6 million American seniors vulnerable to poverty. John McCain has even said Social Security is "a disgrace".

"I couldn't disagree more.

"Our Social Security isn't a disgrace; it's a compact, a trust between generations of Americans. It's a reflection of our values.

"On the 70th anniversary of Social Security, Americans stood together and said no to George Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security.

"On this anniversary, let's make sure John McCain hears the same message. Tell John McCain to keep his hands off of our Social Security."

"While John McCain is focused like a laser beam on pressing issues like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, the American people still don't know where John McCain stands on the issue of raising payroll taxes," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse. "while he's previously said one thing on the campaign trail, he now is saying something entirely different. The American people deserve a clear answer from Senator McCain. He may be tying himself in knots to keep the base of his Party on board, but the bottom line is clear: a vote for John McCain is a vote for more of the same politics and failed Bush policies."

The following is a chronology of John McCain's inability to answer a simple question on the payroll tax:

September 2007: McCain Refused to Sign No New Tax Pledge. "Last September, he was forced to defend his refusal to sign a no-new tax pledge offered by the conservative Americans for Tax Reform. 'I stand on my record,' he said during a televised debate in Durham, N.H. 'I don't have to sign pledges.'" [Associated Press, 2/17/2008]

December 2007: McCain Tells Wall Street Journal "I Will Not Agree To Any Tax Increase," No Exceptions. "Meeting with us last December, before the primaries, he declared that "I will not agree to any tax increase," repeating the phrase for emphasis. He did not say any tax increase with the exception of Social Security." [Wall Street Journal editorial, 7/30/08: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121737539116495163.html?mod=googlenews_wsj]

February 17: McCain Pledges No Tax Increases Under Any Circumstances. "STEPHANOPOULOS: So on taxes, are you a "read my lips" candidate, no new taxes, no matter what? MCCAIN: No new taxes. I do not -- in fact, I could see an argument, if our economy continues to deteriorate, for lower interest rates, lower tax rates, and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates, which are the second-highest in the world, giving people the ability to write off depreciation in a year, elimination of the AMT. There's a lot of things that I would think we should to relieve that burden, including, obviously, as we all know, simplification of the tax code. STEPHANOPOULOS: But under circumstances would you increase taxes? MCCAIN: No." [ABC This Week, 2/17/08: http://www.abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Story?id=4304502&page=2]

March 3: McCain Backs Away From No New Tax Pledge. "On taxes, Sen. McCain is walking a fine line between courting keep-taxes-low Republicans while insisting he is the candidate of fiscal discipline. Two weeks ago, ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked him on 'This Week' if he were a ''read my lips' candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?' referring to a pledge made by President George H.W. Bush, which he later broke. 'No new taxes,' Sen. McCain responded. 'But under circumstances would you increase taxes?' Mr. Stephanopoulos continued. 'No,' Sen. McCain answered. Asked in The Wall Street Journal interview to clarify, Sen. McCain softened that stance. 'I'm not making a 'read my lips' statement, in that I will not raise taxes,' he says. 'But I'm not saying I can envision a scenario where I would, OK?'" [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120451614688707083.html]

March 13: Asked if He Would Raise Taxes, McCain: "No." Asked if he would raise taxes, McCain said: "No. Look, here we are. Americans are hurting. You know that, I know that. These are tough economic times. Do we want to raise their taxes and have the government take more of their money… We can't raise people's taxes, particularly at this particular time." [Hannity and Colmes, 3/13/08]

July 27: McCain Refuses to Rule out Payroll Tax Hike: "Nothing's off the Table." "MCCAIN: No, I have said and will say, I will say that everything has to be on the table, if we're going to reach a bipartisan agreement. I've been in bipartisan negotiations before. I know how you reach a conclusion. We all have to sit down together with everything on the table. STEPHANOPOULOS: So, that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well? MCCAIN: There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table. [ABC's This Week, July 27, 2008]

July 29: Spokesman Says there Is "No Imaginable Circumstance" Where McCain Would Raise the Payroll Tax. "MEGYN KELLY: Alright, but you're waffling now, Tucker. You're off point, you're off point. We're talking about on a go forward basis if McCain gets in the White House is he going to raise the payroll tax? Might the Social Security tax go up? Is that on the table? TUCKER BOUNDS: No, Megyn. There is no imaginable circumstance where John McCain would raise payroll taxes. It's absolutely out of the question." [Fox News, July 29, 2008]

DNC Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement:

"John McCain should realize that the American people know a bad idea when they see one. Despite the rhetoric, the facts don't lie. Senator McCain not only supports privatizing Social Security, he was part of the Bush propaganda machine that tried to sell it to the American people. The American people cannot afford another Republican president who will put the retirement security of millions of hard working families at risk. Telling the voters he opposes privatizing Social Security when he clearly supports it is not the 'straight talk' Senator McCain promised the American people. Senator McCain is ill-suited to be President if he thinks the American people won't notice when he says something in 2008 that is the exact opposite of what he said in 2004 and 2005."

See Senator McCain's Social Security distortion here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyBwMy27Aoc

2004: McCain Says Privatization Only Way to Go Forward. Responding to a question of whether "privatizing Social Security be a priority for you going forward?" McCain answered, "Without privatization, I don't see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits." [C-Span Road to the White House, 11/18/2004]

2005: McCain Campaigned for Bush Social Security Plan. "McCain has been especially supportive of his onetime rival, appearing with Bush at three events over the past two days in trying to prod Democrats into negotiations to include private accounts in a plan to revamp Social Security." [Washington Post, 3/23/05]

2008: McCain "Totally In Favor" of Bush Privatization Plan. Earlier this year, McCain said "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it - along the lines of what President Bush proposed." He pointed out that I campaigned in support of President Bush's proposal and I campaigned with him, and I did town hall meetings with him." [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/08]

After the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 when Giuliani became mayor, he was criticized for not fully implementing a single recommendation made by the fire department official who identified crucial emergency response failures. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 10/1/06] Giuliani also was criticized for not putting in place "a clear chain of command for police officers and firefighters" prior to 9/11. [Washington Post, 8/17/06]

When asked to assess President Bush's escalation of the Iraq war earlier yesterday, he said, "I don't know the answer to that." Giuliani, who has yet to visit Iraq, continues to assert his blind support for the President's failed stay-the-course approach and has not acknowledged recent events showing the escalation is not working. [AP, 4/24/07]

Rudy has previously displayed a lack of foreign policy expertise. Earlier this month, he said he did not know whether Iran or North Korea was further along with the development of nuclear weapons. [New York Times, 4/7/07] Last month Giuliani admitted that he failed to question Bernard Kerik about his alleged ties to suspected mafia-related businesses before recommending him to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. [AP, 3/30/07; New York Times, 3/30/07]

"Rudy's arrogance has gotten the best of him. How can the man who failed to prepare New York City for a second attack after the first one, quit the 9/11 commission because he was too busy raking in money from sketchy business deals, can't assess if the surge is working or if Iran and North Korea have nuclear weapons claim that he will keep America safe?" said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. "Not to mention that if Rudy were President he'd have a man who is being investigated for mob ties in charge of homeland security. If that's the record he wants to present to the American people then Democrats welcome the debate because so far Rudy's rhetoric sounds like more of the same failed policies, incompetence and arrogance we've had to suffer for the past six years."

GIULIANI FAILED TO PREPARE NEW YORK AFTER 1993 WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK

Giuliani Decided to Put Emergency Command Center in Vulnerable World Trade Center. Giuliani who became mayor after the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, according to Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins' Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, made "the infamous decision to place the city's emergency command center on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center because he didn't want to schlep to a more secure, better-protected Brooklyn location from City Hall. When the planes hit the trade center, OEM's bunker-in-the-clouds was rendered useless, and Giuliani was forced to embark on his dusty journey through lower Manhattan, scattering the city's command structure." [South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 10/1/06]

Giuliani Failed to Put In A Clear Chain of Command for Emergency Workers. "Giuliani and his top aides did not put in place a clear chain of command for police officers and firefighters." [Washington Post, 8/17/06]

Giuliani Did Not Implement Fire Department Recommendations. Giuliani, according to Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins' Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, "failed to fully implement a single recommendation made by the fire department official who identified crucial emergency response failures after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Nor did he seriously attempt to address the issue of inter-operability between police and fire department radios until late in his term." [South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 10/1/06]

GIULIANI ON IRAQ: I DON'T KNOW OR CARE

Giuliani Unable To Evaluate Bush "Surge" Plan. Asked if the Bush plan was working in New Hampshire, Giuliani said "'I don't know the answer to that." [Associated Press, 4/24/07]

Giuliani Also Admits He Doesn't Know If The Bush Plan Matches His Own Ideas. Giuliani "also said couldn't assess whether the Bush administration was focusing on the rebuilding aspect enough or at all. 'That part of it is the part that I would emphasize dramatically, and I can't tell you how that's going,' Giuliani said." [Associated Press, 4/24/07]

Yet Giuliani Backs The Bush Plan Anyway. The Associated Press also noted that "Giuliani has backed the president on the Iraq war and his decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq." [Associated Press, 4/24/07]

Giuliani Resigned From Iraq Study Group, Didn't Show For Meetings. Rudy Giuliani resigned from the Iraq Study Group in May of 2006, then criticized its findings. When he quit, he said he didn't have the time. Moreover, according to Newsday, "It's not clear that he attended a single meeting. Two of the group's top advisers said they didn't even know he had been a member." [Washington Post, 6/1/06, 12/19/06; Newsday (New York), 11/17/06]

GIULIANI ON IRAN AND NORTH KOREA: I'M NOT SURE

Giuliani Did Not Know If Iran or North Korea Were Further Along With The Development of Nuclear Weapons. "At a house party in New Hampshire, Mr. Giuliani suggested that it was unclear which was further along, Iran or North Korea, in the development of a nuclear weapons program." [New York Times, 4/7/07]

Editor of Foreign Policy Magazine To Giuliani: Read The Newspaper. An editor of Foreign Policy Magazine noted Giuliani's "embarrassing goof" where "Giuliani suggested that it was unclear which was farther along, Iran or North Korea, in the development of a nuclear weapons program." Editor Blake Hounshell wrote, "For the record, North Korea tested a nuclear device on October 9, 2006, while the Iranians have yet to do so. The U.S. intelligence community believes Iran could have a nuclear weapon as early as 2010, but most likely in the time frame of 2012-2015.. Alternatively, he could just read the newspaper every once in a while-lots of important information in there."[Foreign Policy Passport, 4/9/07, http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/4321]

GIULIANI WANTED ETHICALLY CHALLENGED KERIK TO HEAD DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Giuliani "Stuck By" "Radioactive" Kerik. Even after Bernard Kerik's bid - championed by Giuliani - to become Secretary of Homeland Security disintegrated with repeated revelations of ethical problems, Giuliani, who has been close to Kerik for years "has stuck by Mr. Kerik publicly" according to the New York Times. The Associated Press reported that "Kerik's close association with Giuliani became radioactive when Kerik pleaded guilty [in June 2006] to.accepting a gift from a company seeking city work." Giuliani and Kerik have a fifteen year old relationship in which Giuliani promoted his bodyguard to police commissioner, employed him at his consulting firm and named a jail after him. [The Bismarck Tribune, 7/1/06; AP, 3/24/07; Herald News (Passaic County, NJ), 2/15/07; Newsweek, 12/27/04; New York Times, 11/16/05, 9/28/06]

Kerik's Mob Ties Are Long An Issue. Kerik's ties to Lawrence Ray and New Jersey's Interstate Industrial Corporation are a long-running issue. The firm had hired Kerik's best man, Lawrence Ray, as well as his brother Donald, and Kerik admitted lobbying for the company as it sought a city license, which had been refused because of the firm's ties to organized crime. Kerik pled guilty in 2006 to allowing to the company to do $165,000 in free renovations on his Bronx apartment in 1999 and 2000. The two brothers - Frank and Peter DiTommaso - who run the company have been indicted in the Bronx for lying under oath about their dealings with Kerik. Some aspects of Kerik's ties have been known since 2000. [New York Times, 3/30/07, 7/20/06; Washington Post, 4/8/07]

Giuliani Admitted He Failed To Fully Investigate Kerik's Background. Giuliani was forced to admit that he made a mistake by recommending his friend Bernard Kerik to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. [AP, 3/30/07] Before Giuliani's admission last weekend, it was reported that he was "warned about Kerik's relationship with a company with suspected ties to organized crime even before Giuliani appointed Kerik as New York City police commissioner."

Millions of Americans save diligently for their retirement, only to discover later that "there's a lot of people who are putting their hands into that money," Miller said.

Current law does not explicitly require disclosure to investors of comprehensive information on fees connected with 401(k) plans, the employer-sponsored schemes under which workers make tax-deferred contributions from their salaries.

A stunning 80 percent of 401(k) investors are unaware of the extent of the fees, according to congressional investigators. The AP continues:

The Government Accountability Office urged Congress to consider requiring the disclosure of 401(k) fee information in a way that would allow investors to compare plan options. The report said the Labor Department should require that investors get a summary of all fees paid either from plan assets or by participants.

With the Democrats now controlling the House, prospects are strong for such legislation in the coming months.

Democrats are taking a serious look at how best to handle this issue and make sure hard-working Americans don't run into any surprises down the road when it comes to their retirement savings.

Others see the proposals as likely to do more harm than good, and many congressional Democrats have accused Bush of trying to pay for the Iraq war and his signature tax cuts by reducing health care for elderly and poor Americans.

"There are problems in terms of future financing of Medicare, and those need to be dealt with in a comprehensive way," said Charles N. Kahn III, president of the Federation of American Hospitals. "To think we're going to solve all those problems by simply saying, 'We're not going to pay those who provide service what we need to pay them' is more than problematic. . . . This has more to do with the balanced budget and other things than it does with the preservation of Medicare."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said the Bush plan does nothing to address the underlying causes of the financial woes of Medicare and Medicaid -- rising health-care costs.

The article also points out that "the problem was made worse when the GOP-controlled Congress added a prescription drug benefit in 2003, which is expected to cost $38 billion this year." The reason for the high costs? The Republican leadership refuses to allow Medicare to use its purchasing power to negotiate for lower drug prices.

House Democrats already passed a bill to change this, and the president is threatening to veto the bill. It's time to start tackling the issue of rising health-care costs that the Republican Congress ignored.

A quick read of the article reveals the "qualified" related to just one thing, the pay-as-you-go rules. But on the whole, the article is pretty much exuberantly hopeful.

More important in terms of substantive future legislation, the ability of the Democrats to win over significant numbers of Republicans on most votes signals the slim but enticing possibility of Democratic mastery over a demoralized Republican Party -- one that has thrived on polarized partisan warfare in recent years.

If the new bipartisanship takes root, the prospects for health care legislation and immigration reform sharply improve.

• Ethics reform,


• An increase in the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years,


• Enactment of the 9-11 commission's recommendations,


• Expanded stem-cell research,


• Government negotiation of prices with prescription drug companies,


• Student loan interest rates cut in half,


• The elimination of billions in subsidies for big oil companies.

Now if the Chicago Bears could just get to and win the Super Bowl, this year would be off to a fantastic start.

The truth is, said Sass, retirement has become a much messier process than it used to be. Sure, it's always been a stressful transition, but at least it was more cut and dried in the past. With traditional retirement plans, there were incentives to not linger in the job beyond a certain age. If you could draw 100 percent of your benefit at age 65 and received no additional pension credits for additional years worked, why wait? Traditional plans were designed to replace a certain amount of income, and Social Security replaced a greater share of income in the past than it will going forward. It was the employer who bore the risks of bad years in the market, not the employee.

Well, that's all changed.

Thankfully, according to the Detroit Free Press, Democrats in Congress have taken up the issue of retirement security with policies "to increase 401(k) participation, protect workers' pension plans and stop efforts to privatize Social Security."

Considering, as the Washington Post column points out, that the "median balance in 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts for workers in their 50s is just $60,000, which won't pay the bills for many years," there is much work to be done so that all seniors can retire with they dignity and respect they've earned.

The announcement of opposition comes as polls overwhelming show enormous support for the proposal, which helped propel Democrats to majority status as part of the "first 100 hours" plan -- the legislative House agenda incoming Speaker Pelosi advanced before the election. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently found that a whopping 81-percent of seniors side with the Democrats.

Giving Medicare negotiating authority would not only lower the costs for beneficiaries, but also for taxpayers who are picking up about three-quarters of the tab for the program. One study found that the Veterans' Administration, which already negotiates with drug companies, pays 46-percent lower prices for all of the top 20 drugs.

That hasn't stopped some fiscally irresponsible Republicans, after taking millions of dollars in campaign contributions from drug companies, from opposing the measure. Should the Republicans push to obstruct this overwhelming popular proposal, Americans will be reminded once again why they voted for a Democratic Congress.

On that agenda is also a desire to fix the disastrous Medicare bill passed by the Republicans which prevents the federal government from negotiating lower drug prices for seniors.

Today, the NYT Editorial looks at the problem and offers up some insight:

Michael Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, says he does not want the power to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, but Democrats should give it to him anyway.

The Democrats have pledged to move on the issue as soon as they take control of Congress. If they succeed, it would allow an important test of the hypothesis that government negotiators can wring lower prices from the manufacturers than those obtained by the private drug plans and pharmaceutical benefit managers that currently negotiate on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries.

The 2003 Medicare drug law — written by a Republican-dominated Congress in thrall to big drug company contributors — explicitly prohibits the federal government from negotiating drug prices or establishing a list of preferred drugs.

The Democrats are only beginning to explore what they want the government to do.

Read the whole thing....