Kucinich: NO to #CatFoodChristmas + Bernie Sanders: If you change the CPI, you are raising taxes

Image by AFGE via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Dennis Kucinich
WASHINGTON, D.C.
December 20, 2012

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today strongly objected to a proposal to cut Social Security benefits. The White House suggested a reduction in Social Security to cut costs as part of the so-called “fiscal cliff” negotiations.  The proposal called the “Chained Consumer Price Index” would result in a reduction of benefits for Social Security recipients even though Social Security does not contribute to the debt and should not be part of debt reduction negotiations.

See video here [below]. Congressman Kucinich’s remarks follow.

“Will Seniors be pushed off the ‘fiscal cliff’? Social Security did not cause the deficit, but the White House’s plan to lower Social Security cost-of-living benefits could eventually reduce Seniors’ annual benefits by hundreds of dollars. The gimmick is called the ‘Chained Consumer Price Index.’ The Chained C.P.I. works this way: As the cost-of-living goes up, seniors inevitably turn to cheaper alternatives.

“For example, if seniors usually eat steak but then can’t afford its higher price, they can switch to something cheaper, like cat food- – and the cost-of-living calculation would be ‘chained’ to the cheaper item – – cat food. So, the less you pay for food the less benefits you get. The ‘chained CPI’ benefit cut will chain aging seniors to a poverty of choices, a lower standard of living, with cheaper products.

“The chained CPI formula doesn’t take into account seniors’ rising health care costs. If it did benefits would go up. There is no justification to cut Social Security benefits. No to throwing seniors off the fiscal cliff. No to a Cat Food Christmas.”

DJKucinich·Dec 20, 2012

***

Bernie Sanders: My Phones Are Bouncing Of The Hook! From People Saying Do Not Cut Social Sec!

December 19, 2012 C-SPAN

watch via http://www.c-span.org/video/?310023-1/senate-session-part-1

clip: http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4237409/clip-senator-sanders-federal-spending-deficit

***

Mr. President, I am Disappointed

SenatorSanders·Dec 20, 2012

***

The NDAA: More War Abroad and More Austerity Here at Home

DJKucinich· Dec 20, 2012

“In this discussion over the NDAA, we arrive at a moment where we meet the moral consequences of our nation’s choices over the past decade. We chose war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and perhaps later on Iran. Inexplicably, we have created openings for Al Qaeda and radical fundamentalists as a result of our interventions.

“At home, we choose a false notion of security over personal freedom, even if it means that we look the other way when the very language of this bill opens the door for indefinite detention of Americans. And we choose poverty over plenty by giving over half a trillion dollars for the Pentagon, and nearly $90 billion for wars, including Afghanistan, while facing reductions in domestic spending.

“We put war on the nation’s credit card, including a charge for the war in Iraq, which was based on lies and may ultimately cost $5 trillion. We gather at a fiscal cliff of our own making and refuse to see the implications of our unrestrained spending for war. But when it comes to providing for the long term security of our seniors, a cynical ploy using the Consumer Price Index is being used to cut Senior’s Social Security benefits.

“When did America become more concerned about the control of and the security of foreign lands than the retirement security of its own people? Unending war abroad means austerity here at home. It’s caviar for the Pentagon and cat food for seniors.
“Our choices are being made again with this bill, but when will we choose for America – -Jobs for all? Education for all? Housing opportunities for all? Retirement security for all? When will we choose freedom over fear? When will we break the hold which fear has over this nation?”

from the archives:

Tangerine Bolen: NDAA 2013 – Indefinite Detention Without Trial Is Back

Inequality and Poverty America Style–In Richness and in Health by Graham Peebles

Chris Hedges with Jeremiah Wright on Poverty in the U.S.

Michael Hudson: Fiscal Cliff An Artificial Crisis

Tavis Smiley and Cornel West: We ended up with a Republican, a Rockefeller Republican in blackface, with Barack Obama

Preserve Benefits: Cut Gouging and Inequities + Time to Counter the Corporate Domination by Ralph Nader

Behind Obama’s Fake Recovery – The Plan to Gut Social Security by Mike Whitney