| DISABLED VETS STILL
FACING ZERO PERCENT COLA FOR 2010
Social Security recipients and
veterans who receive VA disability compensation can expect no
increase in monthly benefits.
by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog
dot Org
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I'm afraid there is still no
good news on the COLA front for 2010.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
reports that inflation for August 2009 posted just a 0.2%
increase.
This leaves the inflation rate
for the fiscal year (to date) at -2.0%.
Any negative number, or a number
at last year's baseline, means no cost-of-living increase in 2010
for Social Security recipients and veterans who receive VA
disability compensation.
Before you start blaming a
particular politician or political party,
 remember,
since 1975 COLA has been determined by the CPI-W.
Information on that is here ...
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
And, since 1975, there has been
an increase every year. More on that can be found here ...
http://www.ssa.gov/cola/automatic-cola.htm
For the first time in 34 years,
it appears that inflation will be in negative territory and there
will be no COLA ... a classic good news / bad news situation.
For even the smallest COLA,
inflation in September 2009 would have to jump at least 2.1% ...
and, that's not likely.
Can Congress do something about
this and pass legislation to guarantee a COLA for 2010?
Yes.
But, currently, we don't see any
action on that front as far as veterans are concerned.
There is H.R. 3536 which, if
passed, would give Social Security recipients a one-time $150
payment in 2010. But, this bill does not include veterans on
disability.
Below is a chart that tracks
COLA up to now.
Click on chart for larger view.
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
COLA, Cost-of-Living Allowance |
