social security

In advance of any upcoming budget deal, progressive groups have begun pushing House Democrats to sign a letter to President Obama indicating that they will not back anything that cuts entitlement benefits. As of Wednesday, the letter, originally written by progressive Reps. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Mark Takano (D-CA), had 10 additional signers.

The coalition pushing the letter, including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, MoveOn.org and Credo Action, announced it also added two unions, the National Nurses Union and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, to the list.

The groups said 110,000 supporters had also signed the letter within 24 hours of it being put online and supporters have placed more than 4,000 calls to members of Congress.

Some Members of Congress want to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits. President Obama has indicated he is still open to cutting Social Security benefits with a so-called “Chained CPI.”

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is organizing to stop these benefit cuts. He’s circulating a letter among his colleagues that states the following:

We will vote against any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits — including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and need.

But he needs your help for the letter to gain momentum. With our friends at Democracy for America, CREDO Action, Ai??Social Security Works, Working Families Party, Move On, and Rebuild The Dream, we’re working on getting citizen co-sponsors of Grayson’s letter. Click here to sign on.

As Congress continues to debate a possible replacement to the $1.2 trillion in sequestration-related cuts set to kick in on March 1, a coalition of progressive organizations on Wednesday launched an effort urging Democratic lawmakers to reject to any deal that entails cuts to benefits from popular entitlement programs.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy For America, MoveOn, CREDO Action, Rebuild The Dream, the New York-based Working Families Party and Social Security Work are endorsing a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by Reps. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), warning against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits.

Last week, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) hosted veterans groups, labor unions, and others at a press conference to oppose the chained CPI proposal, which would reduce benefits to Social Security beneficiaries and veterans.

At the event, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which represents 200,000 veterans and supporters, blasted the proposal. The IAVA’s Tom Tarantino said the proposal would “balance the budget on the backs of those who fought for us”:

TARANTINO: And I want to point out that this is the 2nd time in so many months that we’ve been brought to talk about this. And that is totally insane to me that we have to keep coming back and talking about how cutting benefits for veterans is not the answer to our fiscal woes. You hear chained CPI and you hear all these complicated policy terms. And really what you’re saying is we’re going to balance the budget on the backs of those who have fought for us. And these proponents of the chained CPI they apparently okay with that. You know, I’m not okay with that. They say times are tough. You know what, tell me about it. Tell me times are tough. For me and my friends who spentAi??theAi??last ten years fighting war. Tell the Gold Star widows and the surviving spouses how tough times are. Tell the Vietnam and World War II and Korean veterans who depend on their benefits to supplement their incomeAi??becauseAi??they’re still suffering from wounds from their service. Tell that disabled veterans, who has invisible wounds, who needs their veterans benefits, so that they can help recover. We lost more veterans lastAi??yearAi??to suicide than we did to combat. Tell those veterans about how times are tough. I have lost …

(Photo source: Flickr user DonkeyHotey)

Social Security is fully solvent until 2037 and is not in crisis. But one way to make sure there are no cutbacks in benefit cuts after that is to lift the payroll tax cap so wealthy Americans contribute more into the system.

A new survey from the National Academy of Social Insurance finds that most Americans want to do just that. When survey respondents were asked how they felt about the statement “It is critical to preserve Social Security even if it means increasing Social
Security taxes paid by wealthy Americans,” 87 percent of them agreed, with 62 percent of them strongly agreeing.

It’s worth noting that this number includes even 71 percent of self-identified Republicans (and 86 percent of self-identified independents).

Click hereAi??to pledge to hold any Democrat who agrees to a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits accountable.

Roosevelt with Social Security Commissioner Jo Anne B. Barnhart

The Boston Globe reports this morning thatAi??Tufts Health Plan chief executive James Roosevelt Jr. is being considered for the ObamaAi??administration’sAi??nomination to head the Social Security Administration.

Last May, he wrote an op-ed with Robert L. Reynolds, a Republican and CEO of Putnam Investments,Ai??Ai??where he advocates for raising the Social Security retirement age at a brisker pace as well as cutting back the growth of benefits with a different Consumer Price Index (CPI):

On the benefits side, we should change the way we calculate the cost-of-living adjustment for all beneficiaries, by utilizing a revised Consumer Price Index which most economists agree more accurately reflects the rate of inflation for the expenses most seniors incur. Such a change would curb the rate of increase in benefits for future generations of retirees […]

Lastly, we should accelerate the rise in Social Securityai??i??s full-benefit retirement age from age 67 to 68 by 2030 and then index the full benefit age for future generations to gains in longevity. Life expectancy past age 65 has risen nearly 50 percent since 1940, when Social Security first began regular monthly payments. That said, we should improve disability options for those engaged in physically demanding jobs. No one expects coal miners or telephone line crews to work into their late 60s.

“There is actually no agreement that the chained CPI provides a better measure of inflation for seniors. An experimental index constructed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics actually shows that the elderly experience a higher rate of inflation primarily because they consume more health care,” says economist Dean Baker. “It is also likely that they don’t substitute as much between items as other consumers.Ai??If the concern is accuracy then the answer would be to have …

Progressive activists fired a shot across the bow of congressional Democrats on Wednesday, warning them to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid or face a primary challenge. Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said Democrats would face a “nuclear war on the left” if they supported cuts to the safety net programs. “We will probably have a fractured party for the next two years” if Democrats cave to Republican demands, Green said on CSPAN, “which would be to the detriment of this president and very unfortunate. There will absolutely be Democratic primaries in the next round of congressional elections. We would probably start right away recruiting challengers.”

The liberal advocacy group that helped draft Elizabeth Warren into the US Senate campaign in 2011 is now trying to make Barney Frank her junior senator. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee sent an email to 25,000 Massachusetts members Wednesday afternoon asking them to sign an online petition urging Governor Deval Patrick to appoint Frank as the state’s interim senator. The group also launched a website, AppointBarneyFrank.com.

Adam Green talked about the work of his Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and the organization’s agenda for the 113th Congress.*He also outlined what progressives would like to see from President Obama in his second term.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

On Wednesday, we reported that Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said on MSNBC that Republicans should be willing to shut down the government to get Democrats to agree to radical cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Today, BondBuyer’s Jen DePaul reports that Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) made a similar threat:

We can only imagine what Cornyn means by “the long-term fiscal health of our country,” but it seems he is willing to go to incredible lengths to secure his right-wing ideological vision.

Democrats should not fear staring down Republicans over a government shutdown. Recall that in the 1990’s, Speaker Newt Gingrich’s (R-GA) shut down of the government resulted in a dive in the polls.

When Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren and the rest of the 2013 class of liberal senators start work this month, they’ll have to do more than figure out the byzantine ways of getting things done in Washington. They’ll also have to decide how seriously to engage a progressive movement that sees their assent a historic opportunity to shift the Democratic Party to the left.

“The cavalry is arriving,” said Adam Green, cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “A lot of news coverage after the election focused on Democrats winning two seats, but the big story for us is the composition of the Democratic caucus has moved in a massively progressive direction.”

Image from Americans for Tax Fairness

The corporate front group “Fix The Debt” still wants to cut Social Security benefits and lower the corporate tax rate. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is working with the group, and he appeared on MSNBC today and made the remarkable claim that Obama needs to hike the Medicare age and cut Social Security benefits with a chained CPI, comparing it to President Lincoln leading on the 13th amendment and freeing the slaves:

RENDELL: Give the President credit, he said he would consider chained CPI, he said back in 2011 that he would raise the Medicare age, with carveouts. […] Those are things he’s going to have to deliver. […] He has to lead. And boy I’d love the whole Congress, this new Congress and the President, they should all go see a screening of Lincoln together, because Abraham Lincoln led on the 13th amendment when everybody on both sides told him he was crazy.

Watch it:

Hiking the Medicare age to 67 would cost seniors 11 billion dollars every year. Meanwhile, a chained CPI would cut a senior’s benefit by over $1,100 every year by time they hit age 85.

It is simply difficult to see the comparison between harming our seniors and freeing the slaves.

Click hereAi??to pledge to hold any Democrat who agrees to a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits accountable.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)

Republicans are already threatening to refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless their demands are met. On MSNBC this morning, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said that Republicans should be willing to shut down the government if Democrats don’t agree to a “restructuring the entitlement programs” — code for cuts to benefits:

TOOMEY: We Republicans need to be willing to tolerate a temporary, partial government shutdown, which is what that could mean. And get off the road to Greece because thatai??i??s a road that weai??i??re on right now. We can only solve this problem by getting spending under control and restructuring the entitlement programs. This president doesnai??i??t want to go there. Weai??i??re going to have to force it, and weai??i??re going to have to force it over the debt ceiling.

Watch it:

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Toomey has been an advocate of raising the retirement age to cut benefits for seniors.

Click hereAi??to pledge to hold any Democrat who agrees to a deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits accountable.

The criticism from the left mirrors past complaints when Mr. Obama included tax cuts in his stimulus package, gave up on a government-run option in health care negotiations and temporarily extended Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy two years ago. Liberals said Mr. Obama should have capitalized on his re-election victory and the expiration on New Year’s Day of all of the Bush tax cuts to force Republicans to accept his terms. “The president remains clueless about how to use leverage in a negotiation,” said Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal advocacy organization. “Republicans publicly admitted they lost the tax debate and would be forced to cave, yet the president just kept giving stuff away.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee sent an email to Democratic senior staffers in both the House and Senate at 3 p.m. ET Monday, after word trickled out that a deal in the works would only raise taxes for households making $450,000 and above (or $400,000 for individuals.) The email, obtained by TPM, argued that Democrats have no practical reason to cave on taxes and would actually have increased leverage if Congress blows through the midnight deadline to avoid the cliff. “Democrats hold the cards, and our leverage increases in less than 10 hours if we hold strong,” the email, signed by the group’s co-founders Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, read.

Preserving Social Security should never have been all that difficult.

But it took Harry Reid to settle the issue —at least as regards the miserably long and absurdly inappropriate debate of 2012.

“We’re not going to have any Social Security cuts,” the Senate majority leader said on the floor of the chamber Sunday. “It’s just doesn’t seem appropriate at this time.”… The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which did so much to strengthen the backbones of Reid and other Democrats, responded in with the proper mix of celebration and resolve. “Democrats stood firm — and Harry Reid declared from the Senate floor that no deal would pass this year that touched Social Security,” declared PCCC co-founders Stephanie Taylor and Adam Green in a message to the hundreds of thousands of PCCC members who contacted Congress with messages opposing any cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. “Today’s victory shows that activism works. In 2013, we’ll keep fighting any proposed cuts to these benefits.”

Social Security was worth fighting for in 2012.

And because activists prevailed—with an assist from Harry Reid—it will be worth fighting for in 2013.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Two weeks ago, President Obama put major Social Security benefits cuts on the table by endorsing the “chained CPI.” This policy wouldAi??lower cost-of-living adjustments for seniors on Social Security.

Hundreds of thousands of Progressive Change Campaign Committee members took action to defend Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In the past weeks, thousands of them called congressional offices demanding that these benefit cuts be taken off the table.

Now, it looks like we’ve succeeded. Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) denounced the inclusion of any Social Security benefit cuts in a short term agreement and flatly ruled them out after Republicans demanded them:

Earlier Sunday, negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered a ai???major setbackai??? after Republicans demanded the inclusion of a new method for calculating entitlement benefits as part of the cliff package, according to Democrats. […]

ai???The one thing I do want to mention is weai??i??re not going to have any Social Security cuts at this stage. That just doesnai??i??t seen appropriate,ai??? Reid said. ai???Weai??i??re willing to make difficult concessions as part of a balanced, comprehensive agreement, but will not agree to cut Social Security benefits as part of a smaller, short-term agreement, especially if that agreement gives more handouts to the rich.ai???

Today, in an email to PCCC members, we wrote, “Today’s victory shows that activism works. In 2013, we’ll keep fighting any proposed cuts to these benefits.”

We have a tiny staff, but we fight hard and think big. You can help continue our work in 2013 by making a $3 donation — or $3 monthly donation — here. Thanks so much!

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is urging Democrats to hold their “bright line position” on taxes and entitlements ahead of a meeting Friday in which President Obama will reportedly offer congressional leaders a scaled-back deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)

Ever since President Obama put Social Security benefit cuts via the “chained CPI” on the table last week, there has been an uprising from progressive groups and Members of Congress opposed to this change.

On Friday, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) protested the proposal on Facebook, saying he has never supported it in his 20 years ofAi??serviceAi??and that he is “not about to start now”:

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.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)

Following the failure of the House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) “Plan B,” it’s clear that any plan that passes the House will not be able to pass with only Republican support.

Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) made this clear in a statement that re-iterated that House Progressives have leverage and should use it: “With Republicans in Congress unable to even ask millionaires to pay their fair share, any agreement to meet our year-end deadlines will now need the support of progressives to pass.”

Recall that Congressional Progressive CaucusAi??released a statement earlier this week saying that they will believe that “Social Security to chained CPI is a benefit cut and members of the CPC will not vote for a deal that cuts the benefits that millions of Americans rely on.”

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.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee says a majority of House Democrats have pledged to vote against any budget deal that includes the “chained CPI” Social Security cut. The PCCC’s conclusion is based on a count of signatures on a 2011 letter and a statement from the Congressional Progressive Caucus this week.

(Photo source: Flickr user DonkeyHotey)

Defiant House Progressives and progressive organizations have been speaking out against Obama’s proposal to cut Social Security and veterans benefits with a “chained CPI.”

In 2011, 66 House Democrats who still serve today signed a letter saying “cutting Social Securityai??i??s already modest benefits is unacceptable and we will reject any legislation that extends the chained CPI to Social Security, veterans and disability, or childrenai??i??s benefits.”

Meanwhile, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which represents 75 Members,Ai??issued an official statement this week saying that “tying Social Security to chained CPI is a benefit cut and members of the CPC will not vote for a deal that cuts the benefits that millions of Americans rely on.”

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), the incoming chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, is on both lists, and issued her own powerful statement yesterday against these cuts.

At the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, we did a cross-check of the two lists and found that 96 sitting and voting Members (we excluded non-voting delegates) of the House Democratic caucus have signed onto statements either last year or this year saying they would not vote for legislation that uses chained CPI to cut benefits. That’s a majority of the caucus, which includes 191 members.

Here are the names of these 96 Members:

Ed Pastor (AZ)
RaA?l Grijalva (AZ)
Lynn Woolsey (CA)
George Miller (CA)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Pete Stark (CA)
Janice Hahn (CA)
Michael Honda (CA)
Sam Farr (CA)
Xavier Becerra (CA)
Judy Chu (CA)
Karen Bass (CA)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA)
Maxine Waters (CA)
Laura Richardson (CA)
Linda SA?nchez (CA)
Jared Polis (CO)
Rosa DeLauro (CT)
Corrine Brown (FL)
Frederica Wilson (FL)
Hank Johnson (GA)
John Lewis (GA)
Mazie Hirono (HI)
Bobby Rush (IL)
Luis Gutierrez (IL)
Danny Davis (IL)
Jan Schakowsky (IL)
AndrAi?? Carson (IN)
Dave Loebsack (IA)
Chellie Pingree (ME)
Donna Edwards (MD)
Elijah Cummings (MD)
John Olver (MA)
Jim McGovern (MA)
Barney Frank (MA)
John Tierney …

Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD)

In July 2011, during the debt ceilingAi??negotiations, Ai??70 House Democrats signed a letter saying the following: “Cutting Social Security’s already modest benefits is unacceptable and we will reject any legislation that extends the chained CPI to Social Security, veterans and disability, or children’s benefits.”

Here’s a copy of that letter, which was spearheaded by Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD):

SS Medicare Letter to Obama July 2011 

Here are the 66 Democrats who signed that letter who still serve:

Reps. JoeAi??Baca (CA), Robert Brady (PA) , Rep. Corrine Brown (FL), G.K. Butterfield (NC), Andre Carson (IN), Kathy Castor (FL), Judy Chu (CA), Donna Christensen (VI), Yvette Clarke (NY), Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Mark Critz (PA), John Conyers (MI), Elijah Cummings (MD), Danny Davis (IL), Peter DeFazio (OR), Rosa DeLauro (CT), Ted Deutch (FL), Keith Ellison (MN), Eliot Engel (NY), Ai??Sam Farr (CA), Barney Frank (MA), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), Alcee Hastings (FL), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Mike Honda (CA), Rush Holt (NJ), Al Green (FL), Gene Green (TX), Raul Grijalva (AZ), Luis Gutierrez (IL), Dale Kildee (MI), Dennis Kucinich (OH), Barbara Lee (CA), John Lewis (IL), Carolyn Maloney (NY), Jim McDermott (WA), Ed Markey (MA), Doris Matsui (DA), Carolyn McCarthy (NY), Jim McGovern (MA), Brad Miller (NC), Gwen Moore (WI), Jerry Nadler (NY), Grace Napolitano (CA), Elanor Holmes Norton (DC), John Olver (MA), Frank Pallone (NJ), Jim Pascrell (NJ), Chellie Pingree (ME), Nick Rahall (WV), Silvestre Reyes (TX), Laura Richardson (CA), Steve Rothman (NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA), Bobby Rush (IL), Gregorio Sablan (NMI), Jan Schakowsky (IL), BobbyAi?? Scott (VA), Louise …

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) is no fan of Obama’s proposal to cut Social Security and veterans benefits with a “chained CPI.” Here’s what she said on FacebookAi??late yesterday:

Letai??i??s call it for what it is; the chained CPI index is a reduction in Social Security benefits over time, a benefit older Americans earned through a lifetime of hard work. The notion that seniors need less of an increase because they can reduce their living expenses is out of touch with reality. Health care costs consume a disproportionate share of their meager income and those costs continue to rise faster than inflation. Ai??Moreover, since Social Security benefits do not contribute one dime to the national debt, they have no place in deficit reduction negotiations. I will not throw Americaai??i??s seniors over the cliff to avoid the fiscal cliff.

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.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) opposes President Obama’s proposal to cut Social Security and veterans benefits with a “chained CPI.” In fact, he says that making no deal at all before January 2013 would be preferable. Here’s why:

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore) was even more terse. He warned it is better to go over the cliff on Dec. 31 rather than reach an agreement that includes the Social Security cuts. DeFazio said the current CPI, though imperfect, is better than the chained CPI. He asked what motivation there is for Democrats to fight for what, in their eyes, is the worse deal.

“On Jan. 1, if we do nothing, seniors get a full COLA [cost-of-living-allowance] ai??i?? and Lloyd Blankfein pays more in taxes,” DeFazio said, referring to the head of Goldman Sachs. “If we do nothing, seniors don’t get stuck with this deal.”

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.