A way-hearty laugh amid the constant shitstorms — (h/t tengrain):
And in further news for a man who loves hearing a goat gossiping most-cutely across a fence is notice of an increase in Social Security checks, which as a retiree, I utterly and throatily applaud — via CNN just a while ago:
Social Security recipients will receive an annual cost of living adjustment of 5.9-percent next year, the largest increase since 1982, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday.
The spike will boost retirees’ monthly payments by $92 to an estimated average of $1,657 for 2022.“This would be the highest COLA that most beneficiaries living today have ever seen,” said Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League.
But that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to go on a spending spree. The reason for the hike is because inflation is soaring too.The roughly 70 million people who get Social Security, including retirees, Americans with disabilities and others, receive a cost of living adjustment, or COLA, each year. It’s based on a one-year increase in inflation and is designed to help beneficiaries cope when prices rise.
In 2021, the adjustment was 1.3-percent — which translated into a roughly $20 a month increase for retired workers. Over the past 12 years, the boost has averaged 1.4-percent, according to the league.After decades of inadequate increases, the 2022 boost finally matches beneficiaries’ rising costs more closely, said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group.
“But large as it may appear on paper, it is not nearly enough for seniors and people with disabilities on fixed incomes to make ends meet,” she said.
No shit:
The annual increase hasn’t kept pace with the rising costs of the goods and services that retirees typically use, according to a recent study by The Senior Citizens League.
It noted that it has received more than 200 emails over the past month, with many retired and disabled senders saying rising inflation is making it impossible for them to pay their bills.Social Security benefits have lost 32-percent of their buying power since 2000, the advocacy group found.
The annual adjustments have increased payments by a total of 55-percent, but seniors’ typical expenses have grown nearly 105-percent over the same period.
The soaring cost of gas, used vehicles, home heating oil, bacon, eggs, beef, milk and home care for the elderly were among the fastest-growing expenses for older Americans over the year ending July 2021, the league found.
Goat speaking, of course.
And once again, here we are…
