the pros and cons of obamacare · obamacare. many say that the president has misjudged the...

1—STRAIGHT TALK—Winter 2010—

Volume 13, Issue 1 Winter, 2010

This issue of STRAIGHT TALK:Pros & Cons of ObamaCare p. 1

Lampert’s Web Test p. 5

Sears RHA Subsidy p. 6

Sears I Remember p. 7

642 Service Years! p. 8

Durham, NC Retiree Club p. 8

Signs of the Time p. 9

The “Big Club” p. 10

Join or Renew Today! p. 11

Sears Holdings News p. 12

Arlington, VA Retiree Club p. 12

Today, for most Americans, few issues are more explosive thanhealthcare. Congress is now considering this issue and the House ofRepresentatives recently narrowly passed Nancy Pelosi’s HR 3962 on No-vember 7, 2009, a 1,990 page bill titled “Affordable Health Care For AmericaAct.” The entire bill can be found at www.defendyourhealthcare.us. In theSenate, on November 18, 2009, Senator Harry Reid unveiled his versionof healthcare legislation totally 2,074 pages.

There are spirited discussions on both sides of the aisle. Proponents ofthe bill insist that it will not only lower costs formost Americans, but also willstrengthen Medicare benefitsand improve the financialstatus of the Medicare trustfund. Opponents argue thatthe healthcare bill is reck-less; will put America on theroad to socialism; and thatcommon sense may sinkObamaCare. Many say thatthe president has misjudgedthe nation’s mood on this de-fining issue.

Healthcare legislation will impact every single American, and will verylikely change the culture of our country as we know it today. Please letyour elected representatives know how you feel on this issue.

The Pros of ObamaCareAARP, the 40-million-member association of older Americans, have en-dorsed the sweeping House health reform bill. As a result, it has beenreported that up to 60,000 people have cancelled their AARP member-ships since July 1, angered over the group’s position on health care. Manyformer AARP members are switching to the American Seniors Associa-tion, a group that calls itself the conservative alternative to AARP.

AARP says that it supports the House bill because the measure does moreto lower drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, strengthens Medicaid, and

bars insurance companies fromdenying people coverage because oftheir age or health. The bill wouldalso lower premiums for Americansages 50 to 64 who have to buy in-surance in the private market andwould create a voluntary long-termcare insurance program.

The House legislation would providehealth insurance to almost allAmericans with a price tag of about$1.05 trillion over 10 years. TheSenate version would have a costof about $848 billion.

As with the House bill, the biggestwinners in the Senate bill are theuninsured. It would offer subsidiesto help people buy insurance andsharply expand Medicaid. Losersinclude the wealthy, who would

The Pros and Cons of ObamaCare

House SpeakerNancy Pelosi

Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid

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have to pay higher Medicare payroll taxes, and peoplewith especially generous health-insurance coveragebenefits, who would also pay a new tax.

The Senate legislation comes down mostly on the lib-eral side on the question of new government-runhealth-insurance plan or “public option,” a flashpointin the debate so far.

AARP follows a number of other organizations that haveendorsed the House bill, including the American Medi-cal Association, Consumers Union, the American Col-lege of Physicians, the National Committee to PreserveSocial Security and Medicare, and Families USA.

Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of ConsumerReports, said the House bill creates a more affordablehealth care system.

“Health care is a consumer crisis, with its cripplingcosts, its unreliability and lack of access for too manyAmericans,” said Jim Guest, the group’s president.“The House bill goes a long way towards solvingthe crisis.”

An analysis of the House bill from the Center on Bud-get and Policy Priorities, a private research group inWashington, found the legislation would “bothstrengthen Medicare’s financial footing” and benefituninsured adults ages 55 to 64.

Here are some elements of the bill that AARP andother supporters contend will help Americans ages50 and older:

• Eliminates the “doughnut hole”: The House leg-islation would immediately start closing the cover-age gap known as the doughnut hole, which forcesthose in Medicare to pay 100 percent of their medi-cations once they have purchased more than$2,700 worth of drugs. About 3.4 million Americansfell into the doughnut hole in 2007, according tothe Kaiser Family Foundation.

• Expands preventive care for Medicare: Becausemany preventive care services covered by Medicareusually require patients to share the cost, manyolder Americans skip important screening tests forcancer, glaucoma, colon cancer and other diseases.The House bill removes deductibles and co-insur-ance for all preventive care services. Health careexperts say a greater focus on preventive care willsave money.

• Guarantees access to health care: Under the Housebill, insurers would no longer be able to deny carebecause of people’s age, gender or health. In 2006,nearly 25 percent of adults ages 55 to 64 were re-jected when they applied for health coverage, ac-cording to the Center for Policy and Research.

• Helps people age at home: Provides funds for olderpeople and those with disabilities to remain in theirhomes and communities.

• Limits health insurance costs: Most states can cur-rently charge higher insurance premiums basedon people’s age or health conditions. The House billwould not allow higher premiums based on age orgender and would limit insurers’ ability to chargemore based on age—insurers could charge olderpeople no more than twice the amount charged tothe youngest adults.

• Provides help for low- and medium-income peopleto buy health coverage: The House bill would pro-vide subsidies for insurance purchased through ahealth insurance exchange for people with in-comes below 400 percent of the poverty line buttoo high to qualify for Medicaid, as well as providehelp in paying insurance for others with low andmedium incomes.

The Cons of ObamaCareHere are some of the more important passages in thePelosi health-care bill, as reported in the November 7,2009, issue of The Wall Street Journal:

What the government will require you to do:

• Sec. 202 (p. 91–92) of the bill requires you to enrollin a “qualified plan.” If you get your insurance atwork, your employer will have a “grace period” toswitch you to a “qualified plan,” meaning a plandesigned by the Secretary of Health and Human Ser-vices. If you buy your own insurance, there’s nograce period. You’ll have to enroll in a qualified planas soon as any term in your contract changes, suchas the co-pay, deductible or benefit.

• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after thebill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Hu-man Services will decide what a “qualified plan”covers and how much you’ll be legally required topay for it. That’s like a banker telling you to sign

ObamaCare Continued from page 1

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the loan agreement now, thenfilling in the interest rate and re-payment terms 18 months later.

On Nov. 2, the Congressional Bud-get Office estimated what the planswill likely cost. An individual earn-ing $44,000 before taxes who pur-chases his own insurance will haveto pay a $5,300 premium and an es-timated $2,000 in out-of-pocket ex-penses, for a total of $7,300 a year,which is 17% of his pre-tax income.A family earning $102,100 a yearbefore taxes will have to pay a$15,000 premium plus an esti-mated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a$20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-taxincome. Individuals and familiesearning less than these amountswill be eligible for subsidies paid di-rectly to their insurer.

• Sec. 303 (pp. 167–168) makes itclear that, although the “quali-fied plan” is not yet designed, itwill be of the “one size fits all”variety. The bill claims to offerchoice—basic, enhanced andpremium levels—but the ben-efits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. Youwill have to enroll in the sameplan, whether the government ispaying for it or you and your em-ployer are footing the bill.

• Sec. 59b (pp. 297–299) says thatwhen you file your taxes, youmust include proof that you arein a qualified plan. If not, you willbe fined thousands of dollars.Illegal immigrants are exemptfrom this requirement.

• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that em-ployers must provide a “qualifiedplan” for their employees and pay72.5% of the cost, and a smallershare of family coverage, or in-cur an 8% payroll tax. Small busi-

nesses, with payrolls from$500,000 to $750,000, arefined less.

Eviscerating Medicare:In addition to reducing futureMedicare funding by an estimated$500 billion, the bill fundamen-tally changes how Medicare paysdoctors and hospitals, permittingthe government to dictate treat-ment decisions.

• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672–692) movesMedicare from a fee-for-servicepayment system, in which pa-tients choose which doctors tosee and doctors are paid for eachservice they provide, towardwhat’s called a “medical home.”

The medical home is this decade’sversion of HMO-restrictions oncare. A primary-care provider man-ages access to costly specialists anddiagnostic tests for a flat monthlyfee. The bill specifies that patientsmay have to settle for a nurse prac-titioner rather than a physician asthe primary-care provider. Medicalhomes begin with demonstrationprojects, but the HHS secretary isauthorized to “disseminate this ap-proach rapidly on a national basis.”

A December 2008 CongressionalBudget Office report noted that“medical homes” were likely to re-semble the unpopular gatekeepersof 20 years ago if cost control wasa priority.

• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391–393) replacesphysicians with physician assis-tants in overseeing care for hos-pice patients.

• Secs. 1158–1160 (pp. 499–520)initiates programs to reduce pay-ments for patient care to what itcosts in the lowest cost regionsof the country. This will reducepayments for care (and by impli-

cation the standard of care) forhospital patients in higher costareas such as New Yorkand Florida.

• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520–545) cuts pay-ments to Medicare Advantageplans (used by 20% of seniors).Advantage plans have warnedthis will result in reductions inoptional benefits such as visionand dental care.

• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that theresults of comparative effective-ness research conducted by thegovernment will be delivered todoctors electronically to guidetheir use of “medical itemsand services.”

Change Is Good?!The House bill, which the Admin-istration praised to the rafters, willforce drastic changes in almost allinsurance coverage, including theemployer plans that currentlywork best. About 177 millionpeople—or 62% of those under age65—get insurance today throughtheir jobs, and while rising costsare a problem, according to everysurvey most employees are happywith the coverage.

In a Review & Outlook editorial inThe Wall Street Journal, it was stated:

“So when Mr. Obama says that ‘Ifyou like your health-care plan, you’llbe able to keep your health-careplan, period. No one will take itaway, no matter what,’ he’s wrong.Period. What he’s not telling theAmerican people is that the govern-ment will so dramatically changethe rules of the insurance marketthat employers will find it impos-sible to maintain their current cov-erage, and many will drop italtogether. The more we inspect the


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House bill, the more it looks to beone of the worst pieces of legisla-tion ever introduced in Congress.”

The Truth about Health InsuranceAnd finally, in another editorial inThe Wall Street Journal, it is statedthat the Administration’s new strat-egy is to talk about “health-insur-ance reform,” rather thanhealth-care reform.”

“Sounds like a good time to explaina few facts about the modern insur-ance market. Start with the realitythat nine out of 10 people under 65are covered by their employers,most of which cover all employeesand charge everyone the same rate.President Obama’s horror storiesare about the individual insurancemarket, where some 15 millionpeople buy coverage outside ofthe workplace.

“Mr. Obama does have a point aboutinsurance security. If you developan expensive condition such ascancer or heart disease, and thenget fired or divorced or your em-ployer goes out of business—thenindividual insurance is going to bevery expensive if it’s available. Butwhat the President and Democratswon’t tell you is that these problemsare the result mainly of govern-ment intervention.

“Because the tax code subsidizesprivate insurance only when it issponsored by an employer, the in-dividual market is relatively small,and its turnover rate is very high.Most policyholders are enrolled forfewer than 24 months as they movebetween jobs, making it difficult forinsurers to maintain large riskpools to spread costs.

“Mr. Obama wants to wave away thisreality with new regulations thatprohibit ‘discrimination against the

sick’—specifically, by forcing insur-ers to cover anyone at any time andat nearly uniform rates. But if in-surers are forced to sell coverage toeveryone at any time, many peoplewill buy insurance only when theyneed medical care. This raises thecost of insurance for everyone else,in particular those who are respon-sible enough to buy insurance be-fore they need it; they end up payingeven higher premiums. And themore expensive the insurance, theless likely people will buy it beforethey need it.

“That’s one reason that only fivestates—Maine, Massachusetts,New Jersey, New York and Ver-mont—have Mr. Obama’s proposalfor ‘guaranteed issue’ on the bookstoday. New Hampshire and Ken-tucky repealed such laws after find-ing that they soon had an evensmaller individual insurance mar-ket as companies fled the state.

“Another proposed reform known as‘community rating’ imposes uni-form premiums regardless of healthcondition. This also blows up theindividual insurance market, bymaking it far more expensive foryoung, healthy or low-risk consum-ers to join pools—if they join at all.And if the healthy don’t join riskpools, then premiums go up for ev-eryone, and insurers have littlechoice but to reduce their risk byrefusing to cover those who have ahigh chance of getting sick, suchas people with a history of cancer.This is why 35 states today imposeno limits whatsoever on how muchinsurers can vary premiums, andsix states allow wide variationamong consumers.

“New York, New Jersey and Massa-chusetts have both community rat-ing and guaranteed issue. And, nosurprise, they have the three most

expensive individual insurancemarkets among all 50 states, withpremiums roughly two to threetimes higher than the rest of thecountry. In 2007, the average an-nual premium in New Jersey was$5,326 for singles and in New York$12,254 for a family, versus thenational average of $2,613 and$5,799, respectively. ObamaCarewould impose New York-typerates nationwide.

“There are better ways to go. Taxcredits to individuals to buy insur-ance would make it more affordableand thus strengthen the individualmarket. Other tax rule changescould also make it easier for peopleto join and form their own risk poolsbeyond their employers, such asthrough business federations, laborunions or, say, the Kiwanis Club.They would no longer be hostage toone job for insurance …

“ObamaCare would impose on all 50states rules that have alreadyproven to be failures in numerousstates. Because these mandateswould raise the cost of insurance,ObamaCare would then turn aroundand subsidize individuals to buy theinsurance that the politicians mademore expensive. Only in govern-ment could such irrationality besold as ‘reform.’”

What the Polls SayThe November Washington Post–ABC News poll shows Americansdeeply divided over the proposalsunder consideration and majoritiespredicting higher costs ahead, with48 percent supporting Democrats’reform plans and 49 percent op-posed. Those numbers are close tounchanged from the same poll takenthree months ago, which had 45percent in support and 50 percent


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opposed. In that survey, a combined67 percent of respondents feltstrongly one way or the other, whilethe new poll puts the number at69 percent.

ABC News notes the “essentiallyeven split” despite the fact that“negatives abound: Fifty-four per-cent of insured Americans thinkit’ll increase their own costs; amongall, 56 percent think it’ll raise over-all costs, six in 10 think it couldshut down many private insurersand 61 percent oppose coveringabortions in federallysupported plans.”

Similarly, Pollster.com’s survey av-erage on the question of overall sup-port for health care reform veryclose to where they were at the be-ginning of August before so many

of the ups and downs that seemedto lend drama to the debate.

The same is true on President Obama’sjob approval for handling healthcare; the average response hasstayed essentially within the mar-gin of error for more than threemonths. Why so little change? Is itpossible that Americans have beenbombarded with so much informa-tion, pro and con, that they have es-sentially tuned it out and held fastto their initial views on reform?

Or are they waiting until the Houseand Senate actually have a compro-mise bill—rather than so many dif-ferent competing versions—beforerendering a final verdict? Perhapsmuch of the public didn’t really un-derstand the specifics of the health-care bills in August and still don’tnow. The final fate of reform may

ObamaCare Continued from page 4 depend on the answer, as both sidesare counting on a late break of pub-lic support toward their position.

By Monee Fields-White (edited)

Edward Lampert is picking a holi-day-season fight with Internetheavyweight Amazon.com.

The Sears Holdings Corp. chairmanhopes online retailing will yield thesales growth that has eluded theHoffman Estates-based departmentstore chain since he took control 4½years ago. This year’s holiday shoppingseason will show how well Sears stacksup with Web retailers like Amazon.

With nearly $20 billion in annualsales, Amazon dominates onlinemerchandise sales the way Wal-Mart Stores Inc. does traditionalbrick-and-mortar retailing. It’s atroubling parallel for Sears, the com-pany that Arkansas-based Wal-Martdethroned as the country’s largestgeneral merchandise chain.

Mr. Lampert has broadened Sears’online presence over the pastcouple of years. Online sales rose4% to almost $3 billion in 2008 …Sears executives say the latestWeb site changes have produceddouble-digit online sales growththis year, declining to provide ac-tual sales figures.

That’s a fraction of Seattle-basedAmazon’s sales, which jumped 30%to $19.2 billion last year and con-tinue to climb. Pricing power, inven-tory depth and distributioncapabilities give it big advantagesover smaller rivals like Sears.

“Amazon is definitely several lapsahead of everybody,” says ScotWingo, chief executive of NorthCarolina-based ChannelAdvisorCorp., which helps retailers such as

Crate & Barrel sell merchandiseonline. Sears, he says, “is an oldercompany and less nimble, and, lo-gistically, it’s hard to have an oldsystem that’s built around distribu-tion centers that are store-bound asopposed to consumer-bound.”

… “While we closely watch our com-petition, we’re successful in onlinebecause we’re focused on thecustomer’s needs,” says ImranJooma, Sears’ senior vice-presidentof e-commerce. “This leads us to dothings differently and not just fol-low the pack.”

Sears emulates some aspects ofAmazon’s strategy. In SeptemberSears unveiled a Web-based mar-ketplace to sell items from outside

Chicago Business, November 9, 2009

LAMPERT’S WEB TEST

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One Final Thought for CongressTo level the playing field, we areproposing the following amend-ment to the United States Con-stitution. Let us know whatyou think.

Congress shall make no law that ap-plies to any citizen of the UnitedStates that does not apply equally toall U.S. Senators and Representatives,and Congress shall make no law thatapplies to any U.S. Senator or Rep-resentative that does not applyequally to all citizens of the UnitedStates. All existing laws and regula-tions that do not meet these criteriashall be declared null and void!


As a result of the 2010 Sears premi-ums for health care, and the healthaccess subsidy of $37 per month fora retiree and $74 per month for a re-tiree and spouse, many retirees aretelling us that they can obtain healthplans that actually cost less than theSears Retiree Health Access plan, evenwith the Sears subsidy.

Therefore, N.A.R.S.E. sent a letterdated November 18, 2009, to EdwardLampert, Sears Holdings CEO, to re-consider how the subsidy is paid.

If you feel that paying the health caresubsidy directly to retirees is a moredesirable option than the way it isdone today, then please let SearsHoldings, and specifically EdwardLampert know your position.

SEARS RETIREE HEALTH ACCESS SUBSIDY

“Edward S. LampertESL Investments, Inc.200 Greenwich Ave.Greenwich, CT 06830-2506

“Dear Mr. Lampert:

“Re: Retiree Health Access Subsidy

“N.A.R.S.E., on behalf of all Sears retirees, commends you on your de-cision to continue the health access subsidy for 2010.

“However, a number of retirees have discovered that they are able toenroll in competitive health plans that actually cost less than the Re-tiree Health Access plan with the Sears subsidy

“Sears has stated that the Company does not receive any tax rebateadvantage from the government by providing subsidy payments to Re-tiree Health Access.

“If that is the case, then N.A.R.S.E. believes the Company should seri-ously consider paying the subsidy directly to retirees. This procedurewould provide retirees with a desirable option and also demonstrate acloser link with the Company to its retirees, which has been a statedgoal of Sears.

“N.A.R.S.E. strongly believes this action would be a positive step inrestoring some faith in Sears that was tarnished twelve years ago bythe ‘betrayal of trust’ in the life insurance ‘take away.’

“Your timely and serious consideration to this suggestion will be verymuch appreciated by all Sears retirees and their families.

“As usual, N.A.R.S.E. stands ready to be of any assistance you maydeem appropriate.

“Sincerely,

“Ronald OlbryshN.A.R.S.E. Chairman”

vendors, something Amazon beganin 2006. Wal-Mart made a similarannouncement in August. Searsalso offers free delivery through its$79-a-year ShipVantage club.

Sears even jumped into the heatedprice battle on books, offering cus-tomers a credit of up to $9 toward afuture purchase if they buy an eli-gible book from Sears.com or on theWeb site of its rivals. Amazon, Wal-Mart and even Target.com justslashed the price of highly antici-pated hardcover books coming thismonth to $9 and below.

Pricing represents the biggesthurdle for Sears in competing withAmazon. One of Amazon’s pricingadvantages is that it doesn’t haveto collect sales tax in states whereit doesn’t have a location. But itsgreatest advantage comes from thefact that it sells such a large vol-ume of merchandise, in more thanthree dozen categories.

“Anyone who tries to compete withAmazon on (price) is going to havetheir work cut out for them,” saysNick McCoy, senior consultant atColumbus, Ohio-based industry re-search firm Retail Forward.

Revenue jumped 28% to $5.5 billionat Amazon in the third quarter.Sears doesn’t disclose online salesfigures separately, but it reportedthat overall sales dropped 10% to

$10.6 billion in its second quarter,ended Aug. 1.

“Sears is smart to improve theironline experience,” says JackPlunkett, CEO of Houston-based in-dustry research Plunkett ResearchLtd. “But I’m not optimistic that thisis going to greatly improve theiroverall competitive position.”

Test Continued from page 5


Over the years, many books and articles have beenwritten about Sears. One standout book was Donald R.Katz’s The Big Store: Inside the Crisis and Revolution atSears, published in the late ’80s.

Katz wrote about changes at Sears, Roebuck then thecountry’s largest retailer. The chief protagonist wasEdward Telling, chairman from 1977 through 1984.Faced with falling net income, under Telling Sears di-versified beyond retail merchandising into financialand real estate services. The merchandise divisionshrank and underwent an internal shakeup.

By 1972 Sears represented more than one percent ofthe country’s gross national product. Two-thirds of thenation shopped at Sears, and over 50 percent of thehouseholds had a Sears credit card. Yet it became atruism that Sears was overpriced and uncompetitivein a new era of discounters, and indeed Sears couldnot lower its costs sufficiently to produce both com-petitive prices and profits from its retail stores. Searsattempted to change this image. Part of the story ofwhat happened to Sears and how Sears responded istold in The Big Store.

Edward Telling gave Katz unlimited research access,and the author devoted most of the book to the men whoworked and fought at Sears headquarters in Chicago.

This book was a good history of Sears, primarily fromthe executive viewpoint, for those wishing to gain anunderstanding about the changes taking place in theretail business generally during the 1970s—1980s.

Rank & File ApproachRecently, one of N.A.R.S.E.’s members, Robert Thomp-son, who retired from Sears in 1984 as Vice Presidentof the Appliance Group, suggested a “rank and file” ap-proach to telling the story about Sears. Thompson said:

“Any time two or more Sears retirees get together, itisn’t long till the stories of past good times and experi-ences are remembered. Sometimes a stranger will bepresent who hadn’t heard that story and will suggestthat it ought to be written down.

“For example, how did Sears get to trademark the word‘Craftsman’ when such a common word cannot nor-mally be trademarked? Every Hardware retiree knowsthe answer, but surprisingly few other retirees know

the history of this mark. Or how did the Dunlap nameget into Division 9’s Hardware Department? Or wheredid the Homart trademark originate? Or what happenedto the “Non Pariel” top-of-the-line automatic washer thatfor years contributed to increased sales and profits?

“All of these are fascinating merchandise stories, buthow about some of those personal stories such as thePhoenix Division 20 salesman who asked a womanshopper how she was going to use the advertised low-priced, low-end vacuum cleaner? When she replied,“for light house keeping,” his immediate question was,“Madam, where is your lighthouse located?”

“As an aside, did you know that in 1957 our NationalAdvertising Manager was almost fined $10,000 and sen-tenced to a year in jail. The FBI said they wouldn’teven need to give him a haircut!”

What’s Your Story?Every Sears unit retiree has his or her own storiesand still enjoys every time they are told, and more sig-nificantly, when new ones are heard.

As a result, N.A.R.S.E., with your assistance, wants toaccumulate many of these stories and make themavailable so that we all might have a chance to be re-minded of the good old days when working for Searswas fun, and many of our experiences helped makeour former Company great.

So here is your chance to share your stories with therest of us by sending in your memories. No need tomention names; just tell us the story or the event.You may either e-mail your stories to Ron Olbrysh,chairman of N.A.R.S.E., at [email protected]; or sendthem to N.A.R.S.E., 8770 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite1300, Chicago, IL 60631.

Law Department TaleFinally, a story that has made its rounds over the yearscame from the Law Department. As an aside, it wasdecided back in the late 1940s when the departmentwas created, not to name it the “Legal Department.”Why? Because according to Richard Robinson, a formerGeneral Counsel of Sears, all of the departments atSears are supposed to be “legal.”

The Good Old Days

THE SEARS I FONDLY REMEMBER

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Anyway, one of the many responsibilities of the LawDepartment was the handling of high profile and sen-sitive customer complaints. One such complaint in-volved an irate customer who was bounced around tomany different individuals at Sears who finally endedup talking to a paralegal in the Law Department. Thiscustomer told the paralegal that he had a washer thatneeded repair and called the Service Department toset up an appointment. On the day of the appointment,the customer took time off from work to wait for therepairperson—who never showed up. In addition, Searsnever called to explain what the “no-show”problem was.

The customer, out of utter frustration, told the parale-gal that she could take his washer and shove it up

where the “sun don’t shine.” The paralegal respondedvery calming that she could not do that as she alreadyhad a microwave oven, refrigerator, and projection tele-vision up there!

There was dead silence from the customer, who fi-nally started howling with uncontrolled laughter. As aresult of the paralegal’s unique response, she was ableto satisfactorily resolve the customer’s complaint. Nowthat was truly customer service!!

Let’s Hear Your TaleSo please do not delay. As we all get older these memo-ries and associations become more precious to us. Butalso, as we get older, these memories begin to fade, andeach day we lose a few more of our old friends. So actnow and let’s have some fun! Let’s hear from you today!

642 Service Years!

Sears Retiree Club Lafayette–West Lafayette IN meets for breakfast andfellowship the second Wednesday of every month. Picture taken July 11,2007. Included in the picture are friends, family, and 24 Sears Retireesfrom Store 1980 and Store 2000 with a combined total of 642 Service Years!

Remember Continued from page 7

This Sign seen on U.S. Hwy 15-501 at Lamm’s Grove Intersec-tion. (Near Durham, N.C.)

“Sears Best Retiree” ClubThis Sears retiree club began in May of 1992 with 13retirees, There are now over 80 members. The clubmeets on the first Wednesday of each month at TheGolden Corral.

The Club sponsors an annual Christmas covered dishdinner, with about 40 members attending.

The officers are: Dan Fuller, president; Rose Medlin,vice president; Ruth Boyd, Treasurer; and MargieHerndon, secretary.

Durham, N.C.

FRONT ROW (left to right): Linda Jackson, Billie Summerell,Margie Herndon, Barbara Hawley, Nola Day and PaulineHicks. BACK ROW (left to right) Harold Scroggs, Ruth Boyd,Polly Ashley, Faye Moore, Dan Fuller, Rose Medlin, JuneSummerell, Bertha Jacobs, Rainey Hicks and Jim Gupton.


SIGNS OF THE TIME—CHICAGO STYLEThe following pictures are from a rally held in downtown Chicago last summer.


Sandra Wheeler, former presidentof the Sears Atlanta Retiree Club,also known as the “Big Club,” sentus some pictures from their July,2009 luncheon meeting. The enter-tainment was the “Dynamic Duo,”retirees Dolly and Charles Odell,who entertained the 102 attendees.

Dolly sang numerous songs with differ-ent hats which Charles also wore whilehe accompanied her with music.

You may recall that N.A.R.S.E. heldits 10th Annual Meeting in 2007 atthis fun-loving club.

These pictures are worth athousand words!!

The “Big Club” Can Really Entertain!


N.A.R.S.E. REPRESENTS YOU!PLEASE JOIN OR RENEW YOUR N.A.R.S.E. MEMBERSHIP TODAY!!N.A.R.S.E. is your representative so please let your voice be heard. N.A.R.S.E. is an organizationof retired Sears employees whose goal is to preserve the few remaining earned retiree benefits.We don’t have many, so we have to protect what we have.

N.A.R.S.E. OriginsOur group was formed as a result of former Sears management’s “Betrayal of Trust” misguideddecision in 1997 to reduce the earned “paid-up” life insurance benefit. We brought our case to theCourt of Public Opinion through informational picketing from the shores of Hawaii to the roadwayleading to Sears corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates. We also supported a class-actionlawsuit regarding the reduced life insurance benefit.

This case was finally settled, and the federal judge presiding on the case advised us that retireeshad “good facts, but bad law.” The company’s lawyers relied on the “fine print” of a reservation ofrights clause to justify their actions. It was disclosed during negotiations of the settlement thatthe Company believed that it even had a right to eliminate the reduced life insurance benefit atany time. The settlement prevented them from doing this.

Vital IssuesWhat are the important issues impacting your lives today? The economy? Healthcare? The sta-tus of Sears as a player in the retail environment? Your Sears benefits? The survival of SocialSecurity? The taxation of your Social Security benefits?

N.A.R.S.E. is dedicated to keeping you informed about all of the important retiree issues and whatSears and the federal government are doing about them. Visit our web site daily at www.narse.orgto learn the most recent news about Sears, the retail industry, and what the “feds” are doing thatwill impact you.

We need your support to continue our mission of communicating with retirees, Sears officials,legislators, regulators, the media, and the general public about what is happening to our benefits.

A Meaningful ForceN.A.R.S.E. believes that Sears management recognizes our organization as a force to be reckonedwith, and our very existence has given Sears management “Pause” to consider taking any fur-ther action against retirees’ benefits. However, we will remain strong only as long as we havededicated members who are ready to fight for their rights.

There is strength in numbers. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

If you have not already done so, please send your support today by mailing a check with theenclosed membership/renewal from to N.A.R.S.E. If you have already sent in your support, thenpass the membership application form to someone you feel could join us in the cause.

WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY!!


This is a picture of the ArlingtonSears Retiree Club at a recentChristmas dinner at the AmericanLegion in Arlington, VA.

Art Solano, who retiredfrom the ArlingtonSears store, whichclosed in 1993, formedthis club. The Arlingtonstore was, at one time,the only Sears store inthe Northern Virginiaarea.

A few years, after thestore closed, Art real-ized how closely knittedthe Sears associateshad been and decided toattempt to get theformer associates to-gether on a yearly basis.

The club meets every year on thesecond Wednesday of December.The luncheon meeting is held at the

American Legion Post 139 locatedon North Washington Boulevard Ar-lington, Virginia. After lunch, time

is spent reminiscing about “Goodold Sears Times,” and what is go-ing on in their lives. The list of as-sociates now attending has grownto 27.

Sears Arlington, VA Retiree Club

BACK ROW: Frank Lobianco, Jim Robinette, FrankTrimboli, Pete Jacques, Mohammed Dean and BobPhillips. FRONT ROW: Don Brown, Rose Lobianco,Peggy Ball, Art Solano and Tom Nally.

Sears Holdings News• Sears has launched the next

evolution of the legendary WishBook catalog—the virtual inter-active Wish Book that can befound at http://wishbook.sears.com.At this website you can ordertoys, electronics, tools, appli-ances, clothing, jewelry, shoes,video games, fitness equipment,and more without leaving thecomfort of your home. The inter-active portal allows users to “turnpages” on-site from one list ofofferings to the next, as well asto download a PDF copy of thewhole catalog or sections of it.Check the Wish Book for yourholiday gifts!

• Sears recently announced thatStan Gruzdaitis was the winnerof one of the $500 gift cards forthe “Newsletter Offer Only”sweepstakes that was publicizedin the Summer 2009 issue of theSears Holdings Alumni Newslet-ter. This sweepstakes was opento all retirees who joined theSears Community atwww.mysears.com/retired by Sep-tember 30, 2009. Sears is plan-ning an article about Stan in thenext Alumni Newsletter.

• Sears is again helping militaryfamilies this year with the He-roes at Home Wish Registry.This program helps to bring“more Christmas” to 20,000military families by raisingmoney and using the donationsto purchase Sears gift cards todistribute to the families. As ofNovember 17, people have do-nated over $1.4 million dollars.For more information aboutthis program, check outwww.sears.com/wish.

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