Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
President Obama has endorsed a plan to cut Social Security benefits through a so-called “chained CPI.” Today, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued a statement calling this an “irresponsible” cut to the program and to benefits, indicating that he stands against the deal:
ai???Everyone has a grandparent, a friend or a neighbor who relies on the Social Security benefits they earned to pay for medical care, food and housing. A move towards chained CPI would be a long-term benefit cut for every single person who receives a Social Security check.
ai???The current average earned benefit for a 65 year old on Social Security is $17,134. Using chained CPI will result in a $6,000 loss for retirees in the first fifteen years of retirement and adds up to a $16,000 loss over twenty-five years. This change would be devastating to beneficiaries, especially widowed women, more than a third of whom rely on the program for 90% of their income and use every single dollar of the Social Security checks they’ve earned. This would require the most vulnerable Americans to dig further into their savings to fill the hole left by unnecessary and irresponsible cuts to Social Security.
ai???I am committed to standing against any benefit cuts to programs Americans rely on and tying Social Security benefits to chained CPI is a benefit cut.”
We set up an ActBlue page to highlight and reward bold progressive members of Congress who are speaking out publicly today. Check them out and donate $3 to them here.
I have called the offices of Sens Feinstein and Boxer urging them to oppose any deal that contains cuts to benefit programs. During the presidential campaign phonebanking, I spoke with elderly voters in FL, WI and Nevada and told them the President and other democrats would protect SS and Medicare. We cannot break that promise. I told the senators’ office that if the President offers cuts of any type, even chained CPI, that they should oppose it.