Latest News

Huffman with Sally Tanner, a prominent former member of the California State Assembly.

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits. Under this plan, beneficiaries would get cuts in their cost of living adjustments.

In the last day, Democratic Congressman-elect Mark Takano (CA) joined progressive organizations and Ai??Democratic Reps. Nadler (NY), Conyers (MI), Lee (CA), Johnson (GA), Edwards (MD),Ai??Schakowsky (IL), Grijalva (AZ), Rangel (NY), and Ellison (MN)Ai??andAi??Democratic Sens. Durbin (IL), Brown (OH), and Merkley (OR) in opposing this idea.Ai??This morning, newly-elected Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) made his thoughts clear in a statement to us:

ai???I do not support reducing Social Security benefits or raising the Medicare eligibility age, nor do I support giving ground on the upper income tax rate.Ai?? I will be disappointed if these items are part of a fiscal cliff deal.Ai?? Instead of targeting seniors and the poor while giving more tax concessions to those who donai??i??t need them, the House should simply vote on the bipartisan middle class tax cut already passed by the Senate, and then focus spending reductions on our over-sized military budget and cuts that do not hurt struggling families, like the huge subsidies for the oil industry.ai???

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that …

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

Progressive Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) objects to this move, and released a statement to make clear that will not support such a deal:

ai???Social Security is one of the bedrocks of our middle class society and is an essential safety net for millions of American seniors and their families.Ai?? Millions and millions of Americans rely on Social Security benefits for medical care, food, housing, and other essentials.Ai?? We cannot allow a move toward chained CPI that would result, over time, in substantial cuts in benefits.

ai???We must not force our senior citizens to dig further into their savings to fill the hole left by unnecessary and irresponsible cuts to Social Security.Ai?? It is unconscionable for Republicans to ask seniors and others who can least afford it to sacrifice even more in order to continue giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.Ai??Ai??I do not support any deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits.ai???

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand …

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told Congressional Quarterly (subscription only) that he doesn’t like the idea of the chained CPI “at all” and that his colleagues “overwhelmingly” agree with him:

Democrats sharply criticized the idea on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, but several said they hoped the White House could create a cushion to soften the impact on the neediest beneficiaries.

ai???I donai??i??t like it at all,ai??? said Sen.Ai??SherrodAi??Brown, D-Ohio, adding that his colleagues ai???overwhelminglyai??? agreed with him on the issue.

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

In an interview with The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, Durbin said that we should take Social Security out of the fiscal negotiations:

In an interview with me this morning, Senator Dick Durbin, a top ally of the White House, told me he opposes including Chained CPI for Social Security in the final deal. He said it would be difficult for Democrats to support Chained CPI for Social Security if it ended up in the deal, though he said it was premature to say anything definitive about how they would vote.

ai???We ought to deal with Social Security in a separate conversation that is not part of deficit reduction,ai??? Durbin told me. ai???To do it at this stage is the wrong way to go.ai???

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.

Congressman-elect Mark Takano (D-CA)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

Congressman-elect Mark Takano (D-CA) issued a statement this morning re-iterating his belief that he opposes any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits:

ai???As I’ve been preparing to come to Washington, I’ve kept a close eye on the ai???Fiscal Cliffai??i?? negotiations that are underway between President Obama and Speaker Boehner.

Recent reports have indicated that while Speaker Boehner has conceded that tax rates will increase for the wealthiest Americans, there is significant discussion about reforming key entitlement programs.

During my campaign, I told the voters that I would Ai??oppose any cuts or fundamental changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and I continue to stand by that. Ai??We shouldn’t be using a budgetary crisis, created by Republican obstructionism, to undermine the promise weai??i??ve made to our seniors. We cannot balance the budget on the backs of the America’s most vulnerable citizens.ai???

We set up an ActBlue page to highlight and reward bold progressive members of Congress who are speaking out publicly today. Check them out and donate $3 to them here.

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits. Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

Progressive Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) objects to this move, and pointed out on Twitter that it represents a definite benefit cut and that we cannot ask our seniors to accept it:

As even right-wing former president Ronald Reagan pointed out, Social Security doesn’t add a penny to the deficit — which makes it even more inappropriate that Congress is considering cutting it in deficit negotiations.

We set up an ActBlue page to highlight and reward bold progressive members of Congress who are speaking out publicly today. Check them out and donate $3 to them here.

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.

Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

Progressive Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) objects to this move, and pointed out on Twitter that it represents a cut in benefits for seniors, disabled people, children, and veterans:

Edwards has been leading on this issue, and has been circulating a letter to President Obama calling on him to reject the chained CPI.

We set up an ActBlue page to highlight and reward bold progressive members of Congress who are speaking out publicly today. Check them out and donate $3 to them here.

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson (GA) pointed out on Twitter that Social Security doesn’t even add to the deficit and asked, “Why are we even talking about it?”

Here’s the answer: we shouldn’t be, and President Obama should back off this bad deal.

We set up an ActBlue page to highlight and reward bold progressive members of Congress who are speaking out publicly today. Check them out and donate $3 to them here.

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

On Twitter, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) appeared to reject this approach:

Additionally, here’s a full statement his office released:

ai???We had an election, and the voters sent a message to Congress to focus on jobs and fairness — not cutting benefits for people who have worked all their lives and are now making ends meet on fixed incomes. The formula we use to adjust cost-of-living changes for seniors needs to reflect the real costs they face, not the budgetary fantasies of Washington.ai???

We set up an ActBlue page to highlight and reward bold progressive members of Congress who are speaking out publicly today. Check them out and donate $3 to them here.

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.

Vice President Joe Biden (D)

There are now multiple press reports that President Obama will agree to a fiscal deal that enacts a so-called ai???Chained CPIai??? to calculate Social Security and veteransai??i?? benefits.Ai??Under this plan, ai???a person age 75 in the future will get a yearly benefit thatai??i??s $653 lower after ten years of chained CPI than that person would get under the current formula. An 85-year-old will have $1,139 less to live on.ai??? This represents a huge cut to benefits.

This contradicts an Obama-Biden campaign pledge to not cut benefits for current beneficiaries.

In fact, in August, Vice President Biden actually explicitly told a group that there would “be no changes to Social Security”:

“Hey, by the way, let’s talk about Social Security,” Biden said after a diner at The Coffee Break Cafe in Stuart, VA expressed his relief that the Obama campaign wasn’t talking about changing the popular entitlement program.

“Number one, I guarantee you, flat guarantee you, there will be no changes in Social Security,” Biden said, per a pool report. “I flat guarantee you.”

Obama and Biden should stand by their words on the campaign and back off all cuts to Social Security benefits.

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

Click here to call your Member of Congress and demand that they oppose this bad deal.