President William Howard Taft’s pet cow, Pauline, stands the on lawn in front of the State, War and Navy Building in Washington, circa 1909-13. A gift from Senator Isaac Stephenson of Wisconsin, Taft was one of the last presidents to keep a cow at the White House .
via reddit
President William Howard Taft visiting Marquette, Michigan, in September 1911. Taft was the only sitting president to visit Michigan’s Upper Peninsula until George H. W. Bush is 1992.
American families know first-hand what this looming retirement crisis feels like. About half of households age 55 and older have no retirement savings and a third of current workers aged 55 to 64 are likely to be poor or near-poor in retirement.
via Entitled to Know.
On July 11, 1921, William Howard Taft was sworn in as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. President Warren G. Harding nominated Taft on June 30, and the Senate confirmed the nomination the same day. Taft had a long and distinguished career in public service in positions including President of the United States, Solicitor General of the United States, Federal Circuit Court Judge, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Secretary of War, President of the Philippine Commission and Civil Governor of the Philippines. To this day, Taft is the only person to serve as both President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Untitled by Clifford Berryman, 3/10/1930, U.S. Senate Collection (6012015)
A little bit of history for the day.
American families, across generations, will be encouraged to see our President acknowledge that job creation and economic insecurity are among the greatest challenges facing millions of average Americans. President Obama is right, too many have been left behind and still face unemployment, stagnant wages and an insecure future, even as the economy recovers. The President’s promise of a year of action to restore the basic bargain that built this country should also include preserving and strengthening the nation’s retirement and health security programs, Social Security and Medicare.
Activists at the U.S. Capitol protesting proposed cuts in Social Security benefits known as the “chained CPI.” The proposal would reduce the cost-of-living adjustment seniors receive. Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus spoke in opposition to the proposal, which surfaces as Washington elected officials look for a “grand bargain” that could end the government shutdown standoff.
Some of our National Committee volunteers with their yellow shirts on!
Equal Times is focusing on an article published by the Washington Post that Lori Montgomery wrote. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are three separate programs with unique funding, a fact that she fails to mention.
Meanwhile, you could do more to erase Social Security’s shortfall by simply lifting the payroll tax cap. A lot more. According to the Congressional Budget Office, raising the federal retirement age to 70 would solve about half of Social Security funding problem, while lifting the payroll tax cap would solve all of it.
I am writing to ask you to include in your 2019 State of the Union address your re-commitment to fully protecting Medicare from spending cuts and allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate prescription drug prices to provide beneficiaries and the government a better deal.
During your 2016 presidential campaign, you told voters that your administration would not cut Medicare and that you would bring drug prices down by negotiating with the major pharmaceutical companies. This was encouraging news to our members. However, your administration’s FY 2019 budget recommended that the program be cut by $500 billion over ten years. These cuts would reduce payments to Medicare providers and suppliers, which in turn could affect the coverage that is available to Medicare beneficiaries.
Read more from our letter to the President by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2RDw4bK
The President failed to mention Social Security and Medicare in his State of the Union address last night. Seniors need the President’s recommitment to protect these programs from cuts.
Investment in home and community-based care is popular and must be included in #infrastructure. Now it’s up to Congress to get it done. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/opinion/elder-care-congress.html #HCBS @nytimes
