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.Ai??Outraged Congressional DemocratsAi??have been speaking out for days against these cuts. A defiant Congressional Progressive Caucus — with 75 Members in the House — vowed to vote against such a deal, calling it a definite “benefit cut.”
During an interview on The Young Turks’ Cenk UygurAi??last night, Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) reiterated his opposition to chained CPI and benefit cuts, saying that his caucus will not vote for a deal that has them:
ELLISON: Well the first thing that we can do is to let them know that we will not be voting for any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. We’ve already fired off a whole number of missives on that exact point, we’re making our position very clear, we’re organizing caucus members, we’ve got a letter with 102 people on it, saying that we will not vote for anything that cuts Social Security, communicating that to our leadership and the White House. We’re firm on that. We’re talking internally to make sure the people are going to stay strong. And that’s what we’re doing, we’re letting folks know where we stand so they can go back and recalculate and come up with something else. Because we’re not going to solve these fiscal problems of the backs of the seniors, of the disabled, of the survivors.
Watch it:
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Click hereAi??to pledge to hold any Democrat who agrees to a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits accountable.
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The White House has said that there will be provisions for poor and the very old seniors. Would this change progressives minds? I’m remembering the public option when the caucus said no vote without a public option and in the end voted for the bill anyway.
I feel that even with the provisions for the poor it puts a foot in the door to further cuts just to please the right wing and Third Wayers. Lock that door!
Please let us know how all of you would vote.
WHY IS SS AN ENTITLEMENT_WE ARE ALREADY TAXED ON IT_PER GORE_WE PAID FOR THIS!!!-Don’t SPEND out of that account!!!!
We were not asked if we wanted it, it was taken out of our salaries.
So, now Democrats are acting like the Tea Party? Threatening anyone who doesn’t agree with you with “a primary”? What’s wrong with you? You want to polarize things even more? Are you crazy? You seem not to care about governance at all. You are subscribing to the same “my way or the highway” stance that we’ve seen from the Republicans for the last 4 years. I’m disgusted with you. LEARN TO GOVERN. THIS IS NOT A FOOTBALL GAME.
This man wears a nice suit but if you dig a little deeper and he is a classless, dicriminative man who can’t keep his composure when asked important direct questions nor can he answer a them. Take a Xanax for God sake! This man is in politics?? Yikes!!