President Obama has endorsed a plan to cut Social Security benefits through a so-called ai???chained CPI.ai??? Today, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) spoke out against a plan like Obama’s that would offer only a tiny increase in taxes for the wealthy in exchange for cuts to Social Security benefits:

SCHAKOWSKY:Ai??Ai??Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today because I justAi??don’t get this discussion aboutAi??the fiscal cliff. Republicans are saying that inAi??order to raise taxes on theAi??very wealthiest Americans andAi??actually buy historically smallAi??– by historically smallAi??amount, that the price that hasAi??to be paid is to ask theAi??poorest adult Americans to payAi??more. That is to reduce socialAi??security and medicare benefits. I don’t get the equivalencyAi??that is being asked for. The richest to pay a bit moreAi??and the price to be that theAi??poor, the poorest have to payAi??more. Seniors in this country have aAi??median income of just $22,000 aAi??year. That means half of all seniorsAi??are below that. They also spend an averageAi??right now of $4,500 a year onAi??health care costs out of theirAi??own pockets. And so I think that we have toAi??change the debate here andAi??there’s a parable in the BibleAi??that makes this point.Ai??when you ask a person with oneAi??coat to give up that coat, it’sAi??not the same as asking someoneAi??with 10 coats to donate one toAi??the cause. I yield back.

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