Widespread Belief In What’s Clearly Not True Makes U.S. Election Predictions Very Tough

Contributor: Wy Spano

A survey conducted in 14 countries—all wealthy democracies—found each country’s public response to their own nation’s handling of the coronavirus was generally positive, except in the U.S. and the U.K. The study, by the Pew Charitable Trusts, released August 27, found that "across the 14 countries surveyed, a median of 73% say that their own country has done a good job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. Just 27% believe their country has handled it poorly.”  

The U.K. and the U.S. are exceptions to national satisfaction with coronavirus handling. In the U.K., 54% of the public deemed the handling of the pandemic in their country “bad,” as opposed to 46% calling it “good,” the only two choices given to those polled. In the U.S., 52% called the national handling of the pandemic “bad,” and 47% thought it was “good.”

Bruce Yernberg, a member of the MN State Retiree Council's Board of Directors, on the history of mail-in voting, and its importance in the 2020 election

Contributor: Bruce Yernberg

I remember, as a young lad, my first experience with voting. My father would come home from work one hour early with a days’ worth of honest dirt clinging to him. I would hear my mother telling him to clean up and put on some decent clothes. “It’s Election Day ya’ know.” He knew. After an early supper I, my brother and sister, plus mom and dad would walk down to the polling place located inside my elementary school. We had no car. The walk was dark and cold. I was their eldest and during our walk I was given instruction on how to watch my brother and sister while they voted. Unspoken by them, but well known by me, was my reward. Sweets!

After my parents voted they would visit with neighbors in the school cafeteria. Sitting at tables with collapsible seats built for children, they would have political predictions drinking steaming cups of translucent coffee. They could never find ashtrays so they used their cuffs.  Coffee and sweets were provided by the school’s PTA. I faintly remember my dad listening to a neighbor who secretly pointed at another neighbor  while whispering to my dad that the guy was a Republican…like that was a bad thing. The pointed to guy was a well-known neighborhood insurance man whose son was my best friend.

Sarah Cooper's masterful lip syncing highlights the absurdity of Trump's efforts to smear and impeded mail-in voting. And she's hilarious.

*Stuff to make you roll your eyes and smile

Contributor: Marcia Avner

Biden reminded us that “Social Security’s on the ballot. Medicare’s on the ballot. Medicaid is on the ballot. Our futures and the retirement of coming generations is only one of the many things at stake in this most important election." His focus on “drawing on the best of us," on “love, hope, and light,” will inspire you to do all that you can for a Biden-Harris victory on November 3rd. We are hungry for Biden’s vision for all that we hope for and believe in for America and democracy. We know what has been dreadful in the Trump years and what we are against. We need to be spurred by what we long for - strong, intelligent, experienced leadership and a promise to focus on the crises converging in this moment. Biden speaks of the pandemic, the economic disaster, the call for racial justice, and climate change. I would add the fifth crisis: the failed leadership, the menacing trends of the past 3-1/2 years. 

So listen to Joe. He is for and about us. Let yourself be inspired and excited. Get your ballot and become an ambassador for early voting. Reach out using all the networks and contacts that you have… Let’s get this done, as elders who know how much this matters.

*Restoring American Democracy

The Social Security payroll tax is unfair. If we fix it, there's a bonus: Full benefits for today's young people when they retire.

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

The Social Security payroll tax lets people with huge wages (and the companies that employ them) off the hook. That should be changed, so that rich wage earners pay the same percent that the rest of us do. Solving that problem will also solve a second problem: It will ensure that when today's young people retire, they will get full benefits instead of just three-fourths.

Contributor: Marcia Avner

All of us here at Older and Bolder are promoting the absentee ballot as the safest way to vote. Ever wonder what happens to that ballot? Here is an outline from the Star Tribune about all the key steps from your request for a ballot to the acceptance and posting of the vote. Interesting to see the whole path of this essential tool of democracy!

*What we need to do about it

Now get ready for November 3rd.

Contributor: Marcia Avner

As the Star Tribune reported, Minnesota voters and Minnesota election officials did well, and we can board high turnout and a smooth primary election.

The General Election will be more challenging. We know that very high turnout is likely, and we also know that threats like slowing the postal service will stress the system. (And our sense of fairness.) Seniors and those we encourage to vote need to get ready for Nov. 3. 

Order your absentee ballot now! 

Keep checking this blog for updates on issues, voting rights, and voting processes. 

Vote!!

*What we need to do about it

The assertion that the money owed to Social Security will never be repaid is not true -- this is one more cynical lie.

Contributor: Buddy Robinson

Right-wingers claim that all the borrowing that Congress has taken from the Social Security Trust Funds is just a pile of worthless IOUs, which will never be redeemed. However, this is yet one more false scare tactic designed to fool people into thinking that Social Security will run out of money, when that's not the case.

Contributor: Marcia Avner

There has been a lot of attention to the pressures on the United States Postal Service and Trump’s  political maneuver to thwart mail-in voting. Vanita Gupta--a Justice Department official in the Obama administration, and now president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights--said she viewed the situation as “the weaponization of the U.S. Postal Service for the president’s electoral purposes.”

We seniors, and all voters who want to vote safely, need to push back on this effort in our role as advocates. (Learn how at https://www.apwu.org/savepostoffice.) And we need to VOTE. Because of the warning that the USPS has now issued to most states, we know we need to move quickly to get our absentee ballots. Request your ballot now and it will be sent as soon as ballots are available. You can vote by mail (or in person early voting) starting on September 18th. 

Let’s preempt the effort to bury our votes—and us—by voting safely and early.

To read more on this issue, check out this article in the Star Tribune.

*We're outraged at this
*What we need to do about it