Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits. Under this plan, beneficiaries would get cuts in their cost of living adjustments.
The plan is drawing the ire of Democrats in Congress. Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD) released Ai??the following statement on these proposed cuts, calling them “fundamentally unfair”:
ai???I stand with my fellow CPC members in strongly opposing any move toward chained CPI that would greatly reduce the long-term benefits of every single Social Security recipient and their families. These are our family members, our friends and neighbors who worked hard, played by the rules, and paid their fair share.Ai?? Now the government must uphold its end of the deal and protect their Social Security benefits.
ai???It is fundamentally unfair to ask our most vulnerable citizens ai??i?? our elderly and our poor ai??i?? to shoulder the burden for our country; it is morally wrong and unacceptable.Ai?? We must do better.ai???
The Center for Economic Policy and Research estimates that, for the average worker retiring at age 65, a change to chained CPI would mean a cut of about $650 each year by age 75 and a cut of roughly $1,130 each year at age 85.
Calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index, or ai???CPI,ai??? is often referred to as a cost-of-living estimate. Chained CPI changes the formula used to calculate inflation by taking into account changes in spending patterns, not just the price of goods, over time.Ai?? This different calculation lowers the annual cost-of-living adjustment Social Security recipients receive therefore reducing their total benefits over time.
We set up an ActBlue page to highlight and reward bold progressive members of Congress who are speaking out publicly today.Ai??Check them out and donate $3 to them here.
Click hereAi??to pledge to hold any Democrat who agrees to a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits accountable.
Click hereAi??to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.
I think if President Obama puts through cuts to social security, Medicare or Medicaid we should start a movement to impeach him. I did GOTV for him and so did many groups in our community. The president has been walking on thin ice here in WI since he ignored our protests and visited every state around us when we needed him, he only came to WI when he needed us. I am sure that many of these groups will be sufficiently angry to get behind an impeachment process. Perhaps Joe Biden has a better understanding of the working class and the fact that the ALEC & Republican agendas have been hurting us for years. Concessions to Republicans are like giving in the blackmailers. I want a president to lead not cave. How about some arrests of the people responsible? How about taking their assets? We freeze the assets of other countries when necessary, surely the assets of the banksters can be frozen. I’m am so upset at listening to his remarks this morning, I feel so betrayed. Any democrat that allows this will not have the support of those who did GOTV this year. Enough is Enough.
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