Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones

I would like to respond to Jo Jones's last two letters to the editor. In the one two weeks ago, she blamed President Obama for not getting a cost-of-living raise in her monthly Social Security retirement check. She said the loss of this raise was because of the federal government's deficit. I would advise her to re-read the letter she received last November or December from the Social Security Administration. It mostly likely contained the following statement, "By law, Social Security benefits increase automatically each year to keep pace with inflation. When there is a period of no inflation, the law does not permit an increase in benefits. Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Department of Labor, there was no rise in the cost of living during the past year, so your benefits will remain the same in 2010." As you can see, the annual increase is controlled by law and is based on the inflation rate and CPI not the deficit. In her letter on Tuesday, she encouraged Montana's attorney general to join 19 other states in a frivolous lawsuit suing the federal government over the recently passed Health Care Reform Act. Good use of tax dollars, huh? Since she is apparently on Social Security, I would assume she is part icipat ing in the Medicare program, a federally run health care program. But she is opposed to the Health Care Reform Act. Maybe she should opt out of the Medicare program and save our government some tax dollars since she is so concerned about the federal deficit. Then she could find out just how much she would have to pay for health care! The new health care law may not be perfect, but if the "Party of No" knew anything and if they would have tried to do something instead of nothing, new legislation could have been better. Instead the "Party of No, No, Hell No" and do nothing is so selfish and refuses to work with the other members of Congress to enact legislation that would better the United States and its citizens. By the way, why didn't Ms. Jones complain about the federal deficit spending during G.W. Bush's eight years of record deficits? Finally, Ms. Jones criticized President Obama for trying to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism. Apparently she is against world peace or any measures to reduce terrorism. May I make a final suggestion? Try turning your TV to a different channel and see what else is happening in the world. Val Murri Havre