US seniors fear hard times ahead if no debt deal

Retired CIA analyst Ruth Washington is one of the lucky ones. She says she could survive for six months if Congress fails to reach a debt deal and her Social Security payments are cut off. But she and other senior citizens are not optimistic about the near future -- they say their loved ones could suffer, and they are angry at lawmakers on Capitol Hill for allowing politics to endanger their livelihoods. "I'm fine. I live well, not beyond my means. It just frightens me to think what all those people on Social Security are going to do without money. What's going to happen if they don't receive a check?" Washington, 83, told AFP. "If the government delays my pension, I have about six months that I could survive on my own." Washington spends some of her days at the Hattie Holmes Senior Wellness Center, a gathering place for retirees in a predominantly black neighborhood in the northwest section of the US capital. She knits, listens to jazz and talks politics with her friends. These days, the battle of attrition between Democrats and Republicans over a plan to avert a calamitous US debt default is the hottest topic on the agenda. The world's top economy has said it will no longer be able to borrow funds to pay its bills on August 2 if a deal is not reached -- potentially depriving the 54 million Americans on Social Security of their much-needed payments. Donald Gaines, an 81-year-old retired US Treasury legal expert, said he too could "survive for quite a while" without his pension payments, but worried about his loved ones. "I own my house, I own my car, I have comfortable savings," he said. But Gaines said his son is in trouble. After banks allowed him to borrow 2.5 times the value of his home, he lost his job, and his house went into foreclosure. "I'm sure I'm going to have to maintain the position of helping my relatives and my close friends -- I couldn't sit back and watch them," Gaines said. The AARP, the country's main advocacy group for seniors, sent an open letter to President Barack Obama, urging him to "address the growing anxiety" among those worried that their benefits will be cut off with little warning. "Beneficiaries need to know that payments will continue, regardless of the Congressional discussion over an agreement to raise the nation?s debt limit," the letter said. "Without Social Security benefits, unprecedented hardship would befall millions of Americans who rely on these earned benefits to pay for life necessities such as food, medications, utilities and shelter." Disabled veterans have taken their cause to Facebook, organizing a virtual march on Washington this week to push the government to "honor its moral obligations to those who sacrificed so much in the name of freedom." Preston Lee, a 78-year-old former civil servant and accountant, is not alone in voicing frustration at the political deadlock over how to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit and curb the ballooning US budget deficit. "Most of the people I talk with feel that the politicians are really not doing their job," Lee said. "Do I trust them? I don't have the choice but to trust them." Washington said she was "angry" and accused Republicans of having ulterior motives. "I don't think it's about the debt ceiling -- it's about Obama. They want him to fail and this is a way of getting him to fail. They could have solved this problem a long time ago," she said. Gaines agreed, calling the situation "outrageous and completely unnecessary." "It's strictly politics. The Republicans do not want to see Obama succeed in anything. Their whole program is designed to keep him from going a second term," he said. "One sentence and a bill could solve the whole problem, but they go so far as to put the whole country in jeopardy just to keep the president from being re-elected."