What does it mean that 25 percent of retirees in the U.S. say their savings are all gone?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If you think talk on Capitol Hill over reducing our deficit and raising the debt ceiling has been ugly - just wait until the focus shifts to making cuts to Medicare or raising the retirement age for Social Security.
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Long-term deficit reduction can't be achieved without reforms to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and the politicians know that. But millions of Americans depend on these programs and, as the Baby Boomer population ages, tens of millions more will, too.
A new survey out from the AARP finds many Americans in retirement or close to retirement age won't ever recover financially from the so-called Great Recession. Record job losses, declining home prices, skyrocketing health care costs and investment portfolios rocked by stock market volatility have all played a role.
One in four Americans over the age of 50 says they have burned through all of their savings. More than half, or about 53 percent, say they are not confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.
And about half of those surveyed who are having problems taking care of their finances say they have delayed getting medical or dental care or even stopped taking medications because they simply can't afford to.
Of those surveyed who started to collect Social Security retirement benefits, more than two-thirds say they did so earlier than previously planned.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that 25 percent of retirees in the U.S. say their savings are all gone?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
With the GOP field so weak, should Sarah Palin run for president?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Just when we thought maybe she had decided to just go away comes news of Sarah Palin, the movie. Next month, a secretly produced, two-hour feature film about the former Alaska governor will be released in Iowa, where the 2012 presidential campaign will kick off with the Iowa caucuses in February.
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The $1 million dollar project was produced by conservative filmmaker Stephen Bannon. He agreed to make the film after Palin and her staff asked him in November to produce a series of videos that would highlight her accomplishments as governor and re-establish her as a GOP maverick. Probably a short movie. After its initial release in Iowa, the film will open in New Hampshire, home to the first official primary. She'd better hope it's a blockbuster. According to the latest poll of New Hampshire primary voters, Mitt Romney outpolls Palin by a margin of more than 6 to 1 or about 33% to 5%.
If you're looking for something besides Palin propaganda, there are two new books to read.
"Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of our Tumultuous Years," by ex-Palin aide Frank Bailey, is based on e-mails he kept while working for Palin during her run for governor in 2006 through her failed bid for vice president in 2008. He says Palin loved to play the victim and he calls her leadership style "chaotic.”
I would also recommend "The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power" by investigative reporter Geoffrey Dunn. This book, which I have read, chronicles a lifelong pathology of deceit and makes the claim that she's lied about almost everything her entire life.
There's also some juicy personal stuff in there.
The book is well researched and should be required reading for anyone considering supporting a presidential run by this woman.
Here’s my question to you: With the GOP field so weak, should Sarah Palin run for president?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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