A few weeks ago, feeling sucker-punched by Obama's proposed attack on Social Security benefits, I contacted my senators to state my opposition to these devastating cuts and to implore them to please fight this hurtful, harmful idea. About a week ago I received a response from Sen. Mikulski, which I published in this companion diary.
Yesterday, I received a response from Sen. Cardin. Happily, I can now report to you that both senators from Maryland are opposed to the administration's attack on our social safety net. I can't say what the fate of the proposal will be in the senate, but we all need to let our senators know just how unacceptable the chained CPI proposal is. Does anyone have a feel for how much opposition is lining up in the Senate?
Follow me below the fold for Sen. Cardin's response.
Sen. Cardin's response to my message:
Dear Prof. Gleim:
Thank you for contacting me about proposed changes to Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs.) Like you, I am concerned about using Chained CPI as a gauge of inflation because it would reduce Social Security benefits, as well as federal and military retiree pay, and veterans' disability benefits.
Since its establishment in 1935, Social Security has successfully safeguarded Americans' economic independence for more than 70 years. Today, more than 53 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, and the program provides the majority of income for three-fifths of all retirees. Additionally, Social Security lifts more than one million children above the poverty line each year through its survivors' and disability benefits. One out of every four households nationwide receives monthly benefits from this essential program. Because Social Security is funded solely through payroll contributions, it has not contributed to the federal deficit, and, therefore, it should not be used for deficit reduction.
Currently, Social Security COLAs are calculated using a Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W. Unlike CPI-W, which measures changes in the price of goods and services that Americans purchase each month, Chained CPI, the measure some are proposing, assumes that as prices rise for certain goods, consumers would respond by substituting other less expensive items. As a result, increases would no longer be commensurate with the actual rise in prices, and Social Security benefits would be cut. Chained CPI would result in a 3 percent cut to Social Security benefits over a ten year period and a nearly 9 percent cut after 30 years, according to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Please be assured that as the debate over deficit reduction continues, I will continue to protect Social Security benefits on which American families depend. Again, thank you for contacting me about this matter.
The Social Security program has been a bedrock of American society since the New Deal. It's all that stands between millions of seniors, disabled vets and others and a bleak, hungry, and uncertain future. We must not let certain deeply misguided individuals compromise this highly successful program just to strike some kind of unnecessary and ultimately injurious deal with the right-wing extreme.
Thank you to Sen. Cardin for opposing the cuts. And thank you to all you Kossacks who are working to oppose the cuts. Keep up the fight!