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In the Advocate May 2025: PSARA Position Paper on Immigration The US has failed to articulate a coherent and just immigration policy. Now, under the current administration, even the meager protections we have for those who come from outside US boundaries are being stripped away. The Trump administration has engaged in new levels of cruelty against immigrants – terrorizing people, shackling them in chains, deporting them to countries other than their own, and undertaking these acts regard- less of the person’s citizenship or paperwork status. The administration is threatening sanctuary cities and states with funding cuts, mobilizing the military and national guard to engage in the apprehension of migrants, and seeking millions more in funding for this war on immigrants. They have allies in our state among many county sheriffs who are flouting our “Keep Washington Working” law and using their local law enforcement officers to assist ICE. Everything else being equal, people don’t choose to migrate. Most of us prefer to remain with our families, on the land in which we’ve been raised, and in the culture with which we’re familiar. Yet, huge numbers are migrating for a number of reasons. They are forced to migrate because of brutal conflicts, rampant lawlessness and criminal violence in their home countries, a lack of safe, well-paying jobs, crop failures and food scarcity, and increasingly severe climate disasters. In our country we now have more than 200 jails and prisons for immigrants. Approximately 90% of detained immigrants are held in private detention centers. The current Trump regime has announced plans to build many more. PSARA, takes the following position on the attack on immigrants: We will follow the lead of immigrant rights groups locally, working to support their efforts toward defending and strengthening rights, protecting those being targeted, and securing sanctuary. We welcome all migrants and fight alongside them for housing, healthcare, living wage jobs, and public education, among other things. We emphatically oppose repression, detention, deportation, and the racist attacks to which migrants are being subjected. We act from a commitment to joining hands in respect and solidarity to build a new – and more just – Beloved Community. BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

Donate to Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action mission: Working across generations for Social Justice, economic security, dignity and a healthy planet for all of us. Donate to the PSARA Education Fund A donation to the PSARA Education Fund, a tax deductible 501c(3), of $20 or more entitles you to a year’s subscription to the Retiree Advocate. You can also donate to PSARA by becoming a member. Click here for more information.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are Under Attack Social Security* Closing of SSA offices across the country. Announced plans to cut 7,000 employees. Reduction in phone customer support services. Increases in wait times for services. requiring in-person interviews for many recipients Data security has become a major concern at SSA, Medicare* The Trump administration is introducing a new control on Traditional Medicare in a six state demonstration program, which includes Washington State. This program, called WISeR, is an attempt to control your medicare benefits by requiring prior authorization before you and your doctor can make certain medical decisions. Threats to Social Security staffing may spill over to Medicare impacting customer service. Privatization of Medicare (Medicare Advantage) is expected to expand. In 2025. Medicare is expected to pay $84 billion more for Medicare Advantage, or about 20 percent higher, than if Medicare Advantage enrollees were enrolled in Traditional Medicare. Medicaid* Discussions are underway to significantly reduce or eliminate Medicaid. As part of its overall service to the low Income Community Medicaid assists Medicare patients in the following ways: Click here to see what the impacts to Medicaid will be for the State of Washington. One in five Medicare enrollees relies on Medicaid to help pay Medicare premiums and cost sharing. Nearly 30% of Medicaid funding goes to people with Medicare. Medicaid is the primary payer for 63% of nursing facility residents. Without Medicaid, over 12 million Medicare enrollees would experience gaps in care that jeopardize their health and well-being. * Click here to review our source documents What you can do: Alert your friends and family to challenges faced by Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. On December 6th PSARA Board Members Robby Stern and Anne Watanabe (hosted by Dan Grey and Evegreen State College ) discuss the attacks on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Please listen to the interview and share with your friends: Click here to hear the interview Read Ann Widger’s Letter to Federal Employees and add your Experience in dealing with Social Security Sign the Social Security Works Letter: Tell Congress: Stop Musk and Trump from Destroying Social Security! Or separately write your U.S. Representative and your U.S. Senators. Even if you know that they support Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid make sure that they know how much you care about these entitlements and benefits and the importance of maintaining them for future generations. Participate in the Friday Rallies at the Seattle Federal Building Join PSARA Rallies to defend attacks on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid Click here for our Calendar page Click here for our resources page which further documents the attacks on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

In the Advocate July 2025: Tim Wheeler Tim Wheeler Reads From His Latest Book No Power Greater: The Life & Times of George A. Meyers Saturday, July 26, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. WSLC Offices, 321 16th Avenue S, Seattle Please join PSARA and our own Tim Wheeler for the Washington state debut of Tim’s latest book, No Power Greater: The Life &Times of George A. Meyers. Tim will read from the book, take questions and comments, and also lead us in song with his trusty autoharp. Copies of No Power Greater will be available for purchase. Tim has generously offered to donate all proceeds from book sales at this event to PSARA. The Retiree Advocate published a review of the book in our May issue. To read the review, go to PSARA.org, click “Newsletter,” then “Advocate Archives,” and search for “202505 May Advocate.” The remainder of this article is an excerpt from this fascinating book: A couple of days before Christmas, 1941, the Maryland Council of the CIO met at a convention in Baltimore. The nation was reeling from the December 7 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor two weeks earlier by Imperial Japan; the US was suddenly plunged into war. Yet even so, sharp partisan politics intruded when the industrial union leaders met in Baltimore. John T. Jones, a leader of the United Mine Workers, had quit as President of the Maryland- DC branch of the CIO. He was following the lead of UMW President, John L. Lewis… John L. Lewis was furious at FDR for rejecting his appeal that he supports the steelworkers in the 1937 “Little Steel” strike marked by the infamous massacre by Chicago police of steel union strikers. Lewis was so angry at FDR that one week before the November 1940 presidential election, Lewis urged union workers to vote for Republican Wendell Wilkie. Lewis vowed that he would resign as CIO President if Roosevelt was reelected. The overwhelming majority of union workers rejected Lewis’ appeal and Roosevelt won in a landslide. Lewis followed through, announcing his resignation as President of the CIO, pulling the UMW out of the CIO. All UMW leaders who held leadership posts in the CIO, including Jones, also resigned. George was chosen unanimously to replace Jones. George Meyers said of his election to lead the Maryland-DC CIO: To my great surprise, at the Council convention…I was unanimously proposed to succeed him. Need- less to say, I was both surprised and honored but only agreed to run if the convention elected an African American as one of our vice presidents. It did, and Joe Neal, a leader of the Steel Local at Sparrows Point near Baltimore, became the first black officer of the Maryland-DC Council. George A. Meyers gave unstinting leadership to the Maryland-DC CIO during his two-year tenure as President. His highest priority was to build labor support for the war effort. For him defeating fascism and organizing unorganized workers were two sides of the same coin... Equally high on the CIO agenda was fighting Jim Crow exclusion of African American workers at plants like Glen L. Martin, Fairchild Aircraft, Beth Steel, the shipyards, and all other jobs in Maryland. Along with fighting racist hiring practices, the CIO demanded equal hiring and equal pay for women workers BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

This page outlines why privatization of Medicare is bad for the Medicare Trust Fund and for all Americans. Stop Privatization of Medicare Watch PSARA Co President Jeff Johnson lay out PSARA’s Plans for getting Medicare out of the Hands of Private Equity by Leveling the Playing Field Resources on preventing privatization of Medicare: PSARA’s Level the playing field resources page Read and Download PSARA’s Primer on Leveling the Playing Field Traditional Medicare was created in 1965 as a public good to provide a national health care system for seniors and the disabled in the United States and has proven to be our most efficient and effective public health care program with administrative costs accounting for only 2-3% of Medicare spending. However over the last 20 years the federal government has created various for-profit privatized health care programs within Medicare including Medicare Part D (prescription drugs), MediGap (Part B) (supplemental plans to cover Medicare’s 20% copays), and Medicare Advantage (Part C) which is permitted to take up to 15% of every Medicare dollar for administration and profits for managing Medicare claims. Additionally, the Trump administration doubled down on privatizing Medicare through the Direct Contracting Pilot, rebranded under the Biden Administration as ACO-REACH, which allows private equity firms and Wall Street companies to take up to 25% or more of every Medicare dollar for administration and profits for managing Medicare claims. Recent reports by the HHS Inspector General, academic researchers, and investigative journalists have uncovered wide-ranging fraudulent practices, confirming that upcoding, delaying medically necessary care, and the denial of claims by insurers and other private businesses managing Medicare claims, together account for defrauding the Medicare Trust Fund and Medicare beneficiaries of many billions of dollars annually. PSARA is working with groups across the nation that recognize privatization of Medicare is unacceptable and are fighting for major changes to fix it. Our campaign to terminate Medicare privatization and to protect and strengthen traditional Medicare is grounded in the following seven goals: 1. Expose and educate PSARA members, policy makers, and the wider public on how Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Shared Savings plans, and other “innovative” reimbursement plans are undermining traditional Medicare, fleecing the Medicare Trust Fund and taxpayers, and delaying and denying critical care to seniors. 2. Level the playing field by allowing Medicare to offer the same level of benefits to beneficiaries as the Medicare Advantage plans. 3. Require private insurers and companies to pay back to the Medicare Trust Fund, with interest, the money they stole and make restitution to the Medicare beneficiaries to whom they delayed or denied care. 4. Remove fraudulent actors from the Medicare system. 5. The DCE/ACO REACH pilot can and should be terminated immediately. Until then, no further corporate participants should be allowed into the pilot. 6. Allow Medicare beneficiaries to move from Medicare Advantage plans to traditional Medicare during the annual open enrollment periods seamlessly. 7. Support Reps. Pocan and Khanna’s bill, the Save Medicare Act, relabeling Medicare Advantage plans “alternative private health plans” and fining private insurers that use Medicare in plan titles or advertisements. PSARA’s goal is to create a movement around protecting and strengthening traditional Medicare, ending Medicare as a profit center for private enterprise, and building a sound foundation for Medicare for All. We hope you will join us in this fight. More Resources Here

In the Advocate July 2025: Michael Righi The “Big, Ugly, Cruel Bill” Michael Righi The actual name for Trump’s domestic policy bill is One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). It is hard to imagine the sycophancy of Republicans, who named it that in order to please our Dear Leader. The bill is not finalized yet, and there are still some differences between the House and Senate versions, but Republicans have crafted it with a variety of gimmicks so that it can be passed on a majority vote with narrow Republican majorities in both houses. A War on the Public Good It is a tax cut bill for the rich, but it’s much more than that. Buried within its more than a thousand pages is the right-wing plan for the future, a war on the public good. Public institutions, collective care for the planet and each other – all of that is to be flattened. There are too many examples. What follows are just a few. Start with the militarization of immigration policy, which we are seeing in the news and on our streets daily. It started with ICE performative cruelty; the bill would add $150 billion to Stephen Miller’s mass deportation campaign. That’s 10,000 more masked and armed ICE goons and a massive increase in detention facilities. That is a police state intruding into our communities. Funding tax credits for clean energy or tax cuts for the wealthy? It’s clear what has to go. Not only will OBBBA cut clean energy programs, it would grant a tax break to oil and gas companies, essentially exempting them from a corporate minimum tax. The bill establishes as a goal to have school voucher programs in every state, despite the fact that these have been voted down several times, even in deep red states. Despite being pushed and funded by institutions like the Gates Foundation, studies of voucher schools prove they underperform public schools. Is that the point, to punish poor and working class families? There’s more, but let’s get to the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. OBBBA mainly extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, plus some “lipstick on a pig” additional cuts for overtime pay and tips. The bill slashes Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps, cuts that fall overwhelmingly on working class families. This is unprecedentedly ugly. Past Republican-sponsored tax cuts favored the wealthy and increased inequality. But they didn’t actually take from the poor. The OBBBA benefit cuts reduce the income of the poorest by about $2,000 per year while raising the income of the richest 10% by $12,000. The decline in well-being likely for the lower half of the income distribution would then be similar to a severe recession. Low-income folks are even worse off when tariffs, which are also regressive, are factored in. This is how Republicans are becoming the “party of the working class”. They will piss on you, and explain that it’s raining. And it’s your fault. The Yale School of Public Health estimates that OBBBA will lead to 51,000 additional deaths annually. Debts and Deficits Republican claims that tax cuts will unleash economic growth and so raise tax revenue are complete hogwash; no study, not one, has found any validity in trickle-down economics. That’s just more rain. Reliable analysis of OBBBA predicts it will raise the national debt by somewhere between $3 and $6 tril- lion over the next decade. That’s a wide range, but of course there is a lot of uncertainty. Let’s review some principles. Having the government spend more than it gets in revenue (run a budget deficit) was crucial in 2008, to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a depression. It was crucial in 2020 when COVID shut down the economy. It would also be great if it funded investments in clean energy, schooling, housing or infrastructure. But running deficits to fund tax cuts for the already wealthy? That is what has been happening for the last 45 years, driven by the demands of the rich unwilling to pay even modest taxes. Are deficits and debt becoming a problem? Yes. Bond investors are going to require higher interest rates to lend to the government. Interest costs are becoming a larger and larger part of the government’s budget. Higher interest rates are going to make it harder to buy a house or car, or for governments and firms to build climate investments. Usually it is Republicans who are the “debt scolds”; they use fear of debt to oppose social programs. If they were really worried about debt, they would go after tax cheats (that’s $600 billion a year) and refuse further tax cuts for the rich. But they won’t. They are hypocrites. Will the Trump clown show have serious consequences for the economy? Will ‘the bond market” get nervous about debt and restrain the orgy of tax cutting? It’s not clear yet, but it would surely be a lot better if OBBBA were trashed. That is what would happen in a democracy. Michael Righi is a retired economics professor and a member of the Retiree Advocate editorial board. BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

Join Us for Our Summer BBQ Tuesday August 19th, 12:30– 3:00 pm Seward Park, Shelter #3 5900 Lake Washington Blvd S, Seattle All PSARA members, families and friends are invited to our August potluck barbeque in Seward Park along the shores of LakeWashington. Come and relax in the presence of old growth trees and visit with friends and make new ones. PSARA will provide some veggie, beef and chicken burgers, sausages and drinks. Members should bring a pot- luck dish to share. If you would like to drink something other than carbonated and plain water please bring it along. But note that alcoholic beverages are not permitted. Also not permitted is amplified sound but you can bring along your acoustic guitars and other musical instruments if you would like to play and sing. Tim Wheeler is bringing copies of his new book No Power Greater, the Life and Times of George A. Meyers (see Mike Andrew’s book review in the May Advocate.) He may also bring his autoharp and lead us in a few songs. Robby Stern has offered to lead a walk through trails in Seward Park’s forest which contains some old growth trees. So, bring walking shoes and binoculars. Seward Park is filled with a variety of birds. Perhaps we can encourage some of PSARA’s birders to go along for the walk and identify some for us. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in person for a relaxing, fun- filled afternoon in the park. Directions for finding Shelter #3 are below: BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

In the Advocate May 2025: Cindy Domingo Resisting Immigrant Deportations – This Is Just the Beginning Cindy Domingo Two hundred fifty people packed Seattle’s International Association of Machinists Local 751 union hall on May 3rd, with another 60+ online, to de- liver a powerful message to the Trump administration that they would resist deportations occurring at a massive level in the US. In a show of unity, a multi-racial crowd of Asian Americans, Latinos, and white people coming from over 150 organizations/affiliations listened to three different panels composed of immigrant rights organizations and advocates, elected officials, lawyers, educators, and representatives from faith-based organizations, labor, and community-based organizations. The new organization Standing for Democracy was the convenor of the conference, which was cosponsored by another 20 organizations, including PSARA and the major statewide immigrant rights organizations NW Immi- grant Rights Project and Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network. Opening keynote speaker Rosalinda Guillen, Executive Director and cofounder of Community to Com- munity, provided a vision for Standing for Democracy as she recalled the history and work of the Washington State Rainbow Coalition (WSRC) of the 1980-90’s. WSRC, often portrayed as a multi-racial movement that had an inside/outside Democratic Party strategy, was part of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, but maintained its independence from Jackson. The WSRC developed a comprehensive forward- looking program, which encompassed a local, state, national, and international platform that guided its domestic and foreign policies that remain relevant today. Elected officials and political candidates coming to the WSRC for endorsements were measured by that program. For many during that period, the WSRC became the model of what participatory democracy could look like in the context of a progressive program and party. Presentations by County Council member Teresa Mosqueda and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (via video message) both signaled that the first 100 days of the Trump administration’s policies are quickly moving us towards fascism. The attacks on immigrants, misinformation, denial of due process, and Trump’s seizure of power held by Congress and the Courts is the classic playbook of dictators and authoritarian regimes. Both women called on conference attendees to continue to resist and organize because it is the power of the people that will stop the dismantling of our democracy. The conference reflected the willing- ness of people to come together to de- fend immigrants but also peoples’ need to develop concrete strategies and plans to further disrupt Trump’s over- all move towards fascism. As Jayapal stated, the attacks against immigrants are about all of us and all our democrat- ic rights. While Standing for Democracy in Washington State is just beginning, some ideas from the conference are already taking form. Out of the conference panel on litigation strategies, a group of lawyers led by Attorney Michael Withey are developing a legal “Strike Force” that will use various tools like the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to uncover information on the strategies of ICE and local police forces in Washington State. As a sanctuary state, local police forces are not allowed to cooperate with ICE on sharing information on immigrants or cooperating on arrests for federal civil immigration violations. Information from FOIAs could lead to further lawsuits to stop illegal activity. King County Councilmember Jorge Baron, a longtime leader on immigration policy in Washington State and nationally, and Mosqueda both called upon Standing for Democracy and attendees to assist in developing and supporting policies that resist the Trump administration’s attacks on im- migrants, diversity/equity/inclusion, and programs such as Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. Washington State has already been targeted by Trump for severe federal budget cut- backs. Although that policy has been contested in court, the two Councilmembers along with Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who presented on the allies panel, need a strong movement to develop new revenue to support core programs for working class people of our state and those most impacted by poverty and racism. Organizers for Standing for Democracy are considering going to the vari- ous organizations that cosponsored the conference and others across the state who are interested in building an inter- sectional movement to resist Trump’s anti-democratic policies and his moves toward fascism. There are many organizations operating throughout Washington State that work on a variety of issues, including in rural Washington and in municipalities of various sizes. These organizations do great work in their communities. As a new organization, we want to know how we can move forward together without usurping what others are doing already. One of the ideas that evolved out of the Social Forum model was the concept of Peoples’ Assemblies where communities of particular areas or sectors come together to develop their own platform based on their experiences, knowledge, and aspirations. This model has the potential of develop- ing a statewide platform similar to the Washington State Rainbow Coalition. Another tool that the National office of Standing for Democracy has developed, which was tested at the conference, was a curriculum on fascism that could potentially be adapted for use in particular sectors or communities. Standing for Democracy is holding a follow-up Zoom gathering on May 22. It is open to conference attendees who would like to further develop ideas and strategies for working together to grow our movement. Cindy Domingo is PSARA's Co-VP for Outreach and a veteran activist with LELO (Legacy of Equality, Leadership, and Organizing) and APALA (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance). BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

I Can't Look Backward, I Can't Look Forward, Part 3 Dina Burstein and Mohamed Ibrahim discuss his immigrant experience. Read

She Walks Miles in Other People’s Shoes, Part I Interview With Maureen Bo Angie Bartels interviews PSARA member and labor organizer Maureen Bo on her life experiences and work in organized labor Read

Civil Rights Reflection: Medgar Evers Pool and the Naming of Public Places Mark Epstein discusses his recent civil rights tour of four Southern states and the all to brief life and death of Medgar Evers. Read