Seniors divided over lack of Social Security increase

<p>Bob DeVoss said he can live without a cost of living increase to his Social Security payments in 2010.</p><p>And while he appreciates President Barack Obama's offer to give all 50 million such recipients a $250 stimulus bonus, the retired welder said he can do without that, too.</p><p>“You can never keep an old deer hunter hungry. They always know how to find food,” DeVoss said with a wry smile in between shots of pool Friday at the Santa Rosa Senior Center.</p><p>Other seniors, though, said they are upset by the fact cost of living increases won't be doled out to Social Security recipients for the first time since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.</p><p>Steve Elliott, a retired marketer, called the loss “ridiculous,” saying over a game of bridge that seniors “receive so little” already.</p><p>By law, cost of living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which is negative this year because of lower energy costs.</p><p>Over the past 12 months, gasoline prices have fallen 29.7 percent and overall energy costs have decreased 21.6 percent, according to the Labor Department.</p><p>That means retired attorney Annie Blanchard will not see an increase in her current payments heading into 2010. She's not happy by that fact, saying she “hates to give up anything.” </p><p>Olga Terry, a retired personnel director, was more accepting of the decision, noting that Social Security payments increased this year.</p><p>In fact, those payments rose by 5.8 percent in January, the largest increase since 1982. That was due primarily to an increase in energy costs in 2008.</p><p>Terry also liked the idea of getting another $250 stimulus payment similar to the one seniors received earlier this year as part of the federal government's economic recovery plan.</p><p>Veterans, retired railroad workers and people with disabilities also would receive these payments, which for the average Social Security recipient would be equal to about a 2 percent increase.</p><p>“That might make a difference for somebody,” Terry said.</p><p>Retired waitress Nancy Mough, however, questioned the wisdom of spending a total of $13 billion just to give seniors a one-time payment.</p><p>Obama has not said where that money would be found, but said he's open to borrowing it, which would increase the federal budget deficit.</p><p>Her reticence about the payments aside, Mough lamented what she said is a continuing pattern of seniors having to do with less.</p><p>“As the years go by, it gets less and less, while the prices go higher and higher,” she said. “Our lifestyle is affected.”</p><p>The average monthly Social Security payment for all Social Security recipients is $1,094.</p>