Senate special aging committee. This is an hour and a half. Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to call to order the very first hearing of the Senate Special committee on aging. In the 114th congress i have had the honor of being a member of this committee since my very first days in the United States senate and i am delighted to now assume the chairmanship. This is the first time that a maine senator has chaired the committee since the mid1990s when my predecessor and good friend senator bill cohen for whom i worked for 12 years served as the committees chair. Im also pleased to welcome new and returning members to this committee and onto about delighted that my good friend and colleague senator Claire Mccaskill of missouri will service the committees Ranking Member. Senator bill nelson, the former committee chairman, has also chosen to remain a member of this committee and he will continue to share his expertise with us. Throughout its history, the aging committee has spurred con
Brightest of cuba are found and apprehended and thrown into prison. Theres no open internet there. There arent any dictators in the world. China has written a book on how a dictatorship can control the internet with the great firewall of china and we have the situation that will replicate itself bigtime. Finally he would say this testimony from these unbelievably brave women and men who have suffered at the hands of castro helped steer off the veil of secrecy and an open secret if you will. Its been out there but thankfully its through cspan and maybe thats here and congressmen and women who will see this record you are bearing truth and bearing witness to a very ugly reality that is pervasive. Again i do believe the legitimacy that castro craves and i believe just got a helping hand thats not just might be. The Washington Post and others have aligned on that in their editorials. This was not the time to take that view. They shouldve been an effort to say human rights first. As you sai
Costing us. There are 14,000 new reports each year of senior abuse which includes financial exploitation. In as many as 90 of financial cases, the senior is victimized by someone he or she knows well w. Unfortunately the real case is even worse. Many of the cases are never reported because they are not going to report financial exploitation, particularly when it involves a Family Member. As a consequence the true incidence of this abuse is not known. Identifying victims is particularly difficult because we maners take a look. In addition since victims who have had their assets stolen by Family Members to be criminally prosecuted, the stolen money is rarely recovered. This loss can undermine the health and Financial Security of older people. Combating Financial Abuse of seniors is primarily the responsibility of state and local agencies, particularly Adult Protective Services agencies. Prevention and response to cases of abuse require coordinated efforts, including state and local agenc
Peoples opinion. They have their own experiences with this economy good or bad, and i suggest you stop digging once youre in a hole of that size. My question of you is how much business taxes are included in this budget. So what our budget does on taxes we propose a fully paid for set of middle class tax cuts that is paid for in the way that i discussed before. With business tax increases . Actually i want doesnt include any business tax increases. What are the taxes . I notice youre planning a massive increase for Capital Gains tax, nearly doubling the Capital Gains tax rate from the beginning of thiS Administration. All were doing is proposing to take it back to what it was under reagan. Are you proposing to take the income tax rate back down to where it was under reagan . We are propose inging a comprehensive, revenueneutral business tax reform. Were proposing to fully offset the tax cuts for 44 million middle class families average 600 drars ewith the Capital Gains tax. Heres the p
Financial advisor. Financial exploitation of Older Americans is a growing epidemic that cost seniors an estimated twopoint 9 billion in 2010 according to the gao. In maine a long there are 14,000 new reports each year of senior abuse which includes financial exploitation and in as many as 90 of financial cases the seniors victimized by someone he or she knows well. Many of these cases the victim is too ashamed to report financial exploitation particularly when it involves a Family Member. As a consequence the true incidence of this kind of abuse is not known. Identifying victims of financial exploitation in my state is particularly difficult because we take a lot of pride in our selfsufficiency. Its difficult for many seniors to ask for help. In addition since victims who have had their assets stolen by Family Members typically do not want their relatives to be criminally prosecuted, the stolen money is rarely recovered. Combating Financial Abuse of seniors is primarily the responsibil