Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) just went to the floor of the House of Representatives and denounced President Obama’s proposed Social Security benefit cut, saying that it would induce seniors into having to eat “cat food” to survive:

KUCINICH: Will Seniors be pushed off the ai???fiscal cliffai??i??? Social Security did not cause the deficit, but the White Houseai??i??s plan to lower Social Security cost-of-living benefits could eventually reduce Seniorsai??i?? annual benefits by hundreds of dollars. The gimmick is called the ai???Chained Consumer Price Index.ai??i?? The Chained C.P.I. works this way:Ai?? As the cost-of-living goes up, seniors inevitably turn to cheaper alternatives.

ai???For example, if seniors usually eat steak but then canai??i??t afford its higher price, they can switch to something cheaper, like cat food- – and the cost-of-living calculation would be ai???chainedai??i?? to the cheaper item – -Ai?? cat food. So, the less you pay for food the less benefits you get. The ai???chained CPIai??i?? benefit cut will chain aging seniors to a poverty of choices, a lower standard of living, with cheaper products.

ai???The chained CPI formula doesnai??i??t take into account seniorsai??i?? rising health care costs. If it did benefits would go up. There is no justification to cut Social Security benefits. No to throwing seniors off the fiscal cliff.Ai?? No to a Cat Food Christmas.ai???

Watch it:

 

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