Any sparkle that retirees may have hoped for as the holiday nears was flattened by the news that, for the second consecutive year, their Social Security benefits will not rise.
Technically, there will be a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) of 0.3 percent -- that's three-tenths of one percent -- but that increase of a few dollars will be eaten up by an equivalent boost in the Medicare health care insurance premium, so the net monthly payment will be the same.
Meanwhile, income for the top tier of Americans continued to rise and the gap between the wealthy and those in the middle continued to widen.
Next question: What happened to the campaign promises to help average income Americans cope with economic hardship? And how is stocking the Presidential Cabinet with billionaire corporate executives and opponents of a higher minimum wage going to help those same average Americans?
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