i knew we oldsters struggling to survive on low SSA fixed incomes were not getting a cost of living raise this year (or any time soon), but guess what bogus reason they give?  and i quote:

“The law does not permit an increase in benefits when there is no increase in the cost of living.  So your benefit will stay the same in 2016.  There was no increase in the cost of living during the past year based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Department of Labor.  The CPI is the Federal government’s official measure used to calculate cost of living increases.”

uh huh.  no increase in the COL.  well that proves it.  convenient (for the conservative pricks in their penthouses).  a few cents per month would really kill them.  my monthly income wouldn’t even pay the rent in most places in the country, let alone other necessary expenses.  i had to leave my stable but modest-paying job to caregive for my dying parents for even less, no benefits, no way to resume work in the indefinite future.  many people are in the same boat.  they worked hard as long as they were able to, paid into the system, then one crisis intervened to render them in need of that system.  but the system is controlled by greedy assholes who call that freeloading.

i was fortunate to find a fellow-struggler to move in with in a cheap part of the country and share expenses. not everyone finds that. we have both been forced to retire early due to forces beyond our control. i could have easily become homeless or reduced to living in a hellhole facility, paid for by taxpayers.  so i’m not complaining, just saying many more people are not so lucky.  those on top think we’re too stupid and sheeplike to see through them, and still expect us to vote for them?!  they are a joke, and i hope it backfires on them one day, though not holding my breath.

rant over.  keep your spirits up, and those of others, during this darkest of seasons.  🙂