hank johnson

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called “Chained CPI” to calculate Social Security and veterans’ benefits. Under this plan, “a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit that’s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.” This represents a huge cut to benefits.

Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson (GA) pointed out on Twitter that Social Security doesn’t even add to the deficit and asked, “Why are we even talking about it?”

Here’s the answer: we shouldn’t be, and President Obama should back off this bad deal.

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Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)

A few Democrats and many Republicans have proposed that we make major cuts to Medicare benefits as a part of an upcoming fiscal deal. This is a bad idea for many reasons, foremost of which that American seniors shouldn’t have to pay for debt caused by two wars, tax cuts for the richest Americans, and Wall Street’s recession.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) rejected this call for cuts in Medicare benefits in a recent interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I don’t support any cuts to beneficiaries or benefits,” he told the newspaper.

When politicians do the right thing, we should let them know that we have their back. Click here to give Johnson’s office a call and thank him for taking this stand.