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OPINION
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Fauquier Times | August 12, 2020
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Born in 1960? Sound the alarm on a glitch in Social Security If you are a baby boomer turning 60 in 2020, here’s something you need to know: without a legislative fix, your lifetime Social Security benefits are very likely to be permanently reduced, even if you wait to retire until full retirement age. Reduced. Permanently. Permanently reduced. The reason for this is due to the formula the Social Security Administration uses to calculate benefits. The Social Security Administration, according to its website, takes a “snapshot of average wages of every worker in the country and factors it into your benefit calculation.” This means benefits are based upon average wages across all sectors of the economy. Due to COVID-19, wages are projected to be down nearly 6%,
as measured by the Average Wage Index. And, because each subsequent year’s benefits are based upon the recipient’s first year’s benefits, this cohort can anticipate reduced benefits for the rest of their lives. The news gets even worse for wage-earners with significantly higher-than-average incomes as, dollar-wise, they stand to lose much more. Then there is the knock-on effect. For survivors claiming a deceased spouse’s benefits, their monthly benefits will also be permanently reduced, as will those claiming Social Security Disability Income. So, how did this problem arise? Social Security was updated in 1977, and at that time no provision was made for dealing with a cri-
sis that wrought devastation upon nearly all sectors of the economy – like, say, might occur with a global pandemic. There was ample warning indicating protections needed to be added when the dark economic times of 2008-2009 served as a shot over the bow. However, because the AWI fell only briefly and relatively insignificantly, no legislative action was taken to correct the glitch that came to light. There is a proposal afoot to fix the problem. On Aug. 4, Rep. John Larson (D-CT), chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee, published an op/ed in which he calls upon “Republicans in Congress [to] join with House Democrats and correct this anomaly with the Social Security COVID Correction and
Equity Act.” Chairman Larson’s proposed act would patch this hole and prevent a reduction that would have lifelong effects on a cohort already suffering financially on the doorstep of their retirement years. Boomers have always been known for getting things done. But it’s hard to accomplish a task if there is no awareness the job needs doing. Contact your congressperson and let him/her know the time to fix this is now. If you do not know who your congressperson is, you can find that information at https://www.house. gov/htbin/findrep. Your future benefits – or the benefits of one you love – are riding on this. And the clock is ticking.
LAURIE MACNAUGHTON Warrenton
Protecting one another from the virus would help make our country great again I went to a local grocery store recently. In addition to displaying signs with the governor’s mandate to wear face masks, the store had an employee at the entrance reminding customers to wear their masks and offering free masks to those without one. As I was shopping, two men came down my aisle holding their masks in their hands. I politely said that they should put their masks on. One became very agitated and told me that it was none of my business. I replied that it is my business and that I did not want myself or others to get sick because of his refusal to wear a mask. He began to approach me, still agitated. I said that “The president is finally wearing his mask.” The man stopped and said “Really? He’s wearing a mask?” I told him that if he watched FOX News, he’d see pictures of the president wearing a mask. He paused for a moment and then put his mask on, telling the other man to put his on, too. This peacefully resolved incident prompted me to write this letter. Years ago, laws were enacted that require occupants of a vehicle to wear a seat belt to protect their health in the event of a crash. Laws are also in place that mandate the use of child seats for children who are under a certain age
and for those who do not meet height and weight standards. Similarly, many states have laws that require motorcyclists to wear a helmet. There are also laws that prohibit drugs from being dispensed without a doctor’s prescription. All of these laws are meant to protect the individual’s health and if violated, the police can issue a summons which can carry a hefty fine and in the case of drugs, can result in prison time. Other than the outrage first exhibited by avid cyclists over the helmet law, which the vast majority now abide by in those states that require it, I can’t think of any other instances where ordinary people (other than criminals) refused to comply with a law or an executive mandate aimed to protect health. Until now. While my story about the president wearing a mask is true – there are photos of the rare times he has done so - he continues to politicize the issue by refusing to say that everyone in the U.S. should wear a mask unless legitimate health concerns prohibit someone from doing so. For those people, the president should emphatically and publicly suggest that they limit their exposure to others. The president rarely wears a mask; he has not made an unambiguous statement about them and continues to gather in situations where others
are not wearing one. On this particular issue, the president’s failure to lead is having disastrous results across the country with ever-increasing infection rates and deaths. His example encourages his followers to flaunt mask wearing and proclaim that it’s a violation of their rights and personal “freedom” to ask them to do so. I’m quite sure that some of them think that “if the president isn’t going to wear one, neither will I.” In so doing, these people are putting the rest of us, who are trying to follow the science and the lawful executive mandates, at a greatly increased risk of infection. Whether or not one supports the man in the Oval Office, we should all support our fellow citizen’s right to remain healthy and to avoid risking infection from a disease that is ravaging the country. If you really want to “Make America Great Again”, wear your mask! A “great” country shouldn’t stand idly by as COVID-19 rages. A “great” county should not be among the world’s leaders in infection rates and deaths. A “great” country should follow the guidance from the world’s best scientists and finally, a “great” country should recognize that its elected leader just might have gotten the mask thing wrong.
JIM GEHRIS Midland
Letters to the Editor
What would the Greatest Generation have done? I believe we need to really and truly ask ourselves why it is so important for kids to return to the schoolhouse in the immediate future. So important, that we are willing to risk their health, and the health and lives of their extended families, social circles and school staff members. What reasons are so imperative that we are willing to ignore the facts, most experts and the precedence of the past? We closed our schools to keep our children safe -- can we now really and truly say we know how to do that? The
national death toll and resurgent spikes tell us we can’t. During the Great Depression, when the economy truly crashed, when banks closed their doors and unemployment skyrocketed, when teachers and public servants went unpaid and thousands of schools were closed for years --- what happened to all of those students? The fact is we now look back and call them “The Greatest Generation.” Americans and their children proved to be resilient, resourceful, flexible and, above all, they survived.
So, again, why is it so important that children return to a schoolhouse now -- before we have the pandemic under control? Are we afraid that we have gone soft and that neither we nor our children can succeed outside the “box?” In our age of technology, we have options of which “The Greatest Generation” could not have conceived, so why do we find ourselves stuck in a faceto-face teaching paradigm that acts like we don’t?
WAYNE BERG Warrenton
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