Mr. President, do "OUR DEAL--NOT YOURS!" Clear Messages from the Progressive Democratic Community

Obama's Deficit Proposal: Cut Social Security Benefits
Indexing Social Security benefits to chained consumer price index means a cut for all beneficiaries


- Andrea Germanos, staff writer

More reactions today on Twitter from progressives:

Enacting a chained CPI would cut #SocialSecurity benefits by $112 billion over 10 years. #budget #fiscalcliff
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 18, 2012

Chained CPI explained: Old folks can sub cat food for turkey, so no need to capture turkey price inflation in the index
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) December 18, 2012

These politicians ran on avoiding cuts to benefits for people over 55, but "chained CPI hits everyone's benefits." - Soc. Sec. Works ExDir
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 18, 2012

If Obama-Boehner push through chained CPI deal, progressives should demand BLS construct full elderly index to know true rate of inflation.
— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) December 18, 2012

Joe Biden promised there would be no changes in Social Security if Obama won. Now there are cuts being planned. pccc.me/YhoN3D #P2
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) December 18, 2012

#ChainedCPI =a benefit cut pure & simple. With higher premiums seniors will have even less for their daily expenses #p2 youtube.com/watch?feature=…
— Jan Schakowsky (@janschakowsky) December 18, 2012

Call it chained CPI,but it's a cut in Social Security's earned benefits ...Bumping Up To Premium Catfood tinyurl.com/c3qboov via @ourfuture
— Katrina vandenHeuvel (@KatrinaNation) December 18, 2012

The Chained CPI: A Painful Cut in Social Security Benefits and a Stealth Tax Hike goo.gl/fb/dYcdY
— CEPR (@ceprdc) December 13, 2012

More than 60% of elderly get 50% of their income from social security. Avg less than 1400/mo. WH thinks this $ should get cut.
— Sam Seder (@SamSeder) December 18, 2012

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/12/18-5

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Social Security: Will Obama Cave?

Robert Kuttner

December 18, 2012

The deal between the White House and congressional Republicans includes changes to the cost-of-living formula that amount to needless cuts for seniors.

nce again, President Obama seems to be on the verge of folding a winning hand.

Widely leaked reports indicate that the president and House Speaker John Boehner are making a fiscal deal that includes hiking tax rates back to the pre-Bush levels with a threshold of $400,000 rather than the original $250,000, and cutting present Social Security benefits.

Obama, the reports say, will now settle for as little as $1.2 trillion in tax increases on the rich rather than the $1.6 trillion that he had originally sought. The difference, in effect, will come out of the pockets of workers, retirees, the young, and the poor.

Especially foolish is the cut in Social Security benefits, disguised as a change in the cost-of-living adjustment formula. Before getting to the arcane details of the formula, here’s the bottom line. The proposed change will save only $122 billion over ten years, but it will significantly cut benefits for the elderly.

Because the cut is in the form of a change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the longer you live, the more is the total cut. On average, the cut is about 3 percent a year, but if you live twenty years after you start drawing benefits (the average), that adds up to over ten thousand dollars.

http://prospect.org/article/social-security-will-obama-cave

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Published on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by Campaign for America's Future Blog
This Is Not America’s Deal
by Richard Eskow

Do Our Deal, Not Yours

It’s naive for members of either party to think they can sign a deal which overrides the voters and defies their values without paying a steep political price. (And Democrats have more to lose on that score than Republicans.) A deal like this would also reinforce the belief that leaders of both parties are beholden to the wealthy and corporations, not the people. It would suggest that the public’s values and concerns vanish once you cross the Beltway.

It would send a clear message back to the American people: We’re not listening.

Democrats should tell the truth: Boehner and Republicans are demanding unpopular and damaging cuts to programs most Americans want and need by holding our economy hostage for proposals that voters rejected. They’ve also created an artificial crisis, a ticking policy device called the “fiscal cliff” meant to instill panic so that people will accept policies that are unfair, unwise, unpopular, and unnecessary.

The President can show the nation what real leadership looks like – by refusing to panic. He can represent voters by demanding that Congress address our real crises instead – crises of un- and under-employment, of wage stagnation and wealth inequity, of crumbling infrastructure, increased poverty, and unaffordable education.

Read the polls and election results and the voters’ message is clear: We didn’t vote for this deal. We don’t want it. In two words: No deal.

http://blog.ourfuture.org/20121218/this-is-not-americas-deal-2