We’ve been talking a lot lately about the Chained CPI and how we do not agree with the President putting it in his budget. Here are a few more points that we agree and disagree with when it comes to the President’s budget.
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President Barack Obama’s proposed budget will call for reductions in the growth of Social Security and other benefit programs while still insisting on more taxes from the wealthy in a renewed attempt to strike a broad deficit-cutting deal with Republicans.
The President’s budget plan ignores his statements made during and after the election that Social Security should not be used to cut the deficit and also his promises for a balanced fiscal approach that wouldn’t target middle-class Americans. In truth, President Obama’s budget will cut $127.2 billion in Social Security benefits by adopting the stingier Chained CPI and further means testing in Medicare. It also raises less than half the new revenue offered in previous proposals.
National Committee members and supporters will be converging on the White House tomorrow to protest President Obama’s
budget plan to cut benefits for seniors, retired veterans and people with disabilities.
WHO: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA)
Max Richtman, NCPSSM President and CEO
Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO
Manny Hermann, MoveOn.org
Stephanie Taylor, Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Jim Dean, Democracy for America Chair
Roger Hickey, Campaign for America’s Future
Bonnie Grabenhofer, National Organization for Women
Former Obama for America Supporters & Seniors on Social Security
WHAT: Delivery of more than 1 million petition signatures directly to the White House
WHEN: Tuesday April 9, at 12:30pm (ET)
WHERE: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW - Washington DC (In front of the White House opposite of Lafayette Square)
For those who can’t join us in person, have no fear there’s another way our activists can truly make a difference. Please join our Congressional Call-in Day on Wednesday. One simple toll-free call will connect you directly to your members of Congress and Senate.
Just in case you haven’t pulled your hair out completely yet, we also recommend you check out the White House’s fact sheet for seniors, which incredibly claims this budget will strengthen Social Security while failing to provide even a single mention of Social Security benefit cuts which start at $130 the first year for the average 65 year-old retiree. The cumulative cut for that individual would be $4,631 or more than three months of benefits by age 75; $13,910 or nearly a year of benefits by age 85; and $28,004, more than a year and a half of benefits by age 95.
A top adviser to President Barack Obama on Friday slammed a House Republican maneuver aimed at forcing a showdown on Social Security as early as next year, signaling that it won’t fly with the White House.
via Talking Points Memo.
Related Reading:
Cutting Social Security Disability Threatens Millions of American Families.
Americans Push Back as Threat to Social Security & Medicare Grows.
“If news reports today are correct, President Obama will soon renege on his commitment to keep Social Security out of the deficit debate, ignoring his campaign promise to millions of Americans that he would protect vital middle class programs like Social Security. By including a proposal in his 2014 budget to change the current cost of living allowance formula to a stingier and less accurate Chained CPI, the President has suggested an immediate benefit cut of $130 per year for the typical 65-year old retiree that would grow exponentially to a $1,400 cut after 30 years of retirement.
Contrary to the political spin, this chained CPI proposal isn’t a “tweak” or an “adjustment,” it’s designed to cut benefits and raises taxes, largely on the poor and middle class, totaling $208 billion over ten years. $127.2 billion of those benefits cuts come from Social Security with about $24 billion coming from VA benefits and civilian and military retirement pay cuts. Seniors will have received an average COLA of 1.3% over 4 years with no increase in two of those years. Arguing that is too generous shows how out of touch Washington is with the real-world economic realities facing average Americans. Adopting the chained CPI is nothing more than a political sleight of hand targeting our nation’s middle class and poor.
This budget is also reported to include more means testing in Medicare and less than half the new revenue requested in earlier budget negotiations. The President’s budget is not the balanced plan promised to Americans before November’s election and will leave millions of middle-class families in even worse shape than they are today.”…Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO
Preserving Social Security and Medicare is not a partisan issue and we’ll call out any politician who’s wrong on these issues, regardless of their party. Means Testing and the Chained CPI will hurt America’s seniors yet President Obama and some Democrats in Congress are using them as a bargaining chip to lure Republicans to the budget table.
That’s simply wrong.
It’s official, President Obama has proposed cutting Social Security benefits. The Chained CPI is in his 2014 budget.
Please re-blog to get the word out!
The commitments we make to each other: through Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; these things do not zap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.




