No Chained CPI!

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OK, granted, this is the wonkiest poaster I've ever done, but it's important. Every year, Social Security retirees and others (disabled veterans) receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to their benefits so that the value of their benefit doesn't decrease because of inflation. The amount of that cost of living adjustment (COLA) is determined by a number called the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is calculated every month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a part of the Department of Labor. There is an alternative measure called the "chained CPI" that is based on the idea that when prices go up on some of the items used to calculate the CPI, consumers will switch to less expensive substitutes. If you use the chained CPI to calculate the annual COLA, over time, the value of the benefits will decrease because of inflation.

President Obama said he would never cut Social Security, and yet, he is pushing for a chained CPI as a part of his budget strategy. It's a bad idea, not just because it reduces the benefits that seniors worked for and disabled veterans were promised, but because it sets the dangerous precedent of putting Social Security on the table in the budget fights. If the President won't stand up for the people who elected him, then we must stand up with them. Hands off Social Security!