General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYou may not be concerned about the chained CPI. Progressive House Dems sure are
and if they are, I am. No, I'm not saying it will happen, but it's foolish not to see it as a possible component to some coming "Grand Bargain". And yeah, I think that's coming.
<snip>
It worries me, said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., adding that a default on the nations debt would make the stock market crash of 1929 look like a picnic.
We are organizing inside and out to rally opposition against a chained CPI or social security benefit cuts in any grand bargain, added Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus spearheaded the event, which concluded with lawmakers and several dozen participants forming a human chain. CPC Co-Chairman Keith Ellison, D-Minn., led a few versus of the old spiritual This Little Light of Mine.
Part of what were doing here is were trying to set the terms of the debate, Ellison said in an interview with CQ Roll Call. What I want to make sure is that, as some people are having backdoor deals, and say, Oh, we have a way to get out of this, they dont say, Oh, well just toss them the seniors.
<snip>
http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/house-progressives-form-human-chain-against-chained-cpi/
Agony
(2,605 posts)KG
(28,752 posts)Last edited Sun Oct 6, 2013, 10:26 AM - Edit history (1)
leftstreet
(36,110 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)that was good
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)not too long ago, progressive concerns were at the very least respected at DU. Not 100% shared here, but certainly not widely ridiculed. The "faction" of DUers who mocked progressive concerns consisted of just a handful, one of which was named jiacinto.
but now, a post which ridicules such concerns as "vomit slurping" gets 228 recs at DU. The size of the jiacinto faction has skyrocketed, and why is that? My answer: the power of the presidency.
cali
(114,904 posts)let them mock.
this is information that we should be paying attention to.
QC
(26,371 posts)that the day would come when being concerned about things like Social Security and LGBT equality, or favoring single payer health insurance, would be dismissed as poutraged pony-demanding, or when progressives would be dismissed as emoprogs, or whatever is currently the favored insult among the wingnuts, I would not have believed you.
But that day has arrived.
Emoproletarians unite!
The Magistrate
(95,248 posts)Putting this 'grand bargain' swill through is about the only thing that could revive Republican prospects of victory in 2014.
cali
(114,904 posts)to fall for this dooms democrats.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)Buns_of_Fire
(17,188 posts)Remember "Superlative CPI?" http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022417077
I rather liked "Doubleplusgood CPI" (mentioned in the thread), myself. It had a nice, contemporary ring to it.
BelgianMadCow
(5,379 posts)it's the ever-expanding knowlegeable use of Orwellian newspeak to puncture the media narratives that employ it.
I've seen it here, but also over at the Guardian, and on the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine. The book is being sold in big volumes in the UK again as well.
Now, forget all that!
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)The guy who keeps posting 'not going to happen' on DU is not my representative. I stand with elected Democrats in strong opposition to this attack on Social Security and I have to wonder who those posters nattering against vocal rejection of Chained CPI are standing with. Not my elected Democrats, that's for sure.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)This is not to say it should be ignored. The House has to act. Still, the Senate should be able to stand its ground.
WASHINGTON, March 22 The Senate tonight voted to block cuts in benefits for Social Security and disabled veterans.
The amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) put the Senate on record against changing how cost-of-living increases are calculated in a way that would result in significant cuts.
The time has come for the Senate to send a very loud and clear message to the American people: We will not balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans who have lost their arms, their legs and their eyesight defending our country. We will not balance the budget on the backs of the men and women who have already sacrificed for us in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor on the widows who have lost their husbands in Iraq and Afghanistan defending our country, Sanders said.
The amendment opposed switching from the current method of measuring inflation to a so-called chained consumer price index. President Barack Obama favors a chained CPI as part of what the White House calls a grand bargain that Obama hopes to reach with congressional Republicans.
The proposed change would affect more than 3.2 million disabled veterans receiving disability compensation benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans who started receiving VA disability benefits at age 30 would have their benefits reduced by $1,425 at age 45, $2,341 at age 55 and $3,231 at age 65. Benefits for more than 350,000 surviving spouses and children who have lost a loved one in battle also would be cut. Dependency Indemnity Compensation benefits already average less than $17,000 a year.
More than 55 million retirees, widows, orphans and disabled Americans receiving Social Security also would be affected by the switch to a chained CPI. That figure includes 9 million veterans with an average yearly benefit of about $15,500. A veteran with average earnings retiring at age 65 would get nearly a $600 benefit cut at age 75 and a $1,000 cut at age 85. By age 95, when Social Security benefits are probably needed the most, that veteran would face a cut of $1,400 a reduction of 9.2 percent.
A chained CPI would cut Social Security benefits for average senior citizens who are 65 by more than $650 a year by the time they are 75 years old, and by more than $1,000 once they reach 85.
Groups supporting Sanders include AARP, the AFL-CIO, National Organization for Women, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS and others.
Sanders is chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and the founder of the Defending Social Security Caucus.
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=41f5d32d-b4bf-4f0e-9ceb-7df622262cac
There was no doubt that this had no chance of passing the Senate.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney lauded the Senate for passing a budget early Saturday, its first in four years, which he said "will create jobs and cut the deficit in a balanced way." He also criticized the House for passing a budget that eliminates the deficit over the next ten years entirely through cuts, saying that "We will continue to insist that any solution has balance."
The full statement below:
Today, the Senate passed a budget plan that will create jobs and cut the deficit in a balanced way. Like the President's plan, the Senate budget cuts wasteful spending, makes tough choices to strengthen entitlements, and eliminates special tax breaks and loopholes for the wealthiest Americans to reduce the deficit.
The President and Democrats in Congress are willing to make difficult choices so we can cut the deficit while laying the foundation for long term middle class job growth. And it is encouraging that both the Senate and House have made progress by passing budgets through regular order. We will continue to insist that any solution has balance. The House Republican budget refuses to ask for a single dime of deficit reduction from closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and the well-connected but instead makes deep cuts to education and manufacturing while asking seniors and the middle class to pay more. That's not an approach we support and it's not an approach the majority of the American people support.
Now it is time for our leaders to come together to find common ground. The President has put a plan on the table that reflects compromise, and he will continue to work with both sides to see if there is an opportunity to reach a solution to our budget challenges. We hope we will find this compromise because that is what the American people expect and what they deserve.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-house-praises-senate-budget
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022558947
The clean CR temporarily funds the Government. It's different from the Senate budget.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023794742
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)loudly opposed until such time as Obama clearly and decidedly takes it off the table as a possibility, which he could do with great ease. This use of America's most vulnerable as political hostages is simply not right and he needs to stop doing it.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"Extra words don't make your message any more valid. Chained CPI has to be
loudly opposed until such time as Obama clearly and decidedly takes it off the table as a possibility, which he could do with great ease. This use of America's most vulnerable as political hostages is simply not right and he needs to stop doing it."
That was my point. You may not want to hear it, but that's a fact. Your "extra words" are pure nonsense.
cali
(114,904 posts)and YOU fucking know more than the dems quoted
NOT A CHANCE, PRO.
NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Nope, no cigar for YOU.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)and YOU fucking know more than the dems quoted
NOT A CHANCE, PRO.
NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Nope, no cigar for YOU.
From my initial comment: This is not to say it should be ignored. The House has to act. Still, the Senate should be able to stand its ground.
Now, it's apparent that your comment is more distasteful self-righteous bullshit.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Yes or no? Brevity is the soul of wit, mountains of verbiage are a sign of a muddled message.
You seem to wish to discourage others from speaking out against this. If that is not your position, answering a direct question would settle that confusion, just like Obama could put it all to rest by saying he refuses such cuts.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)damn mind. This is a discussion. You were asked a question and instead of answering you accuse ME of evasion. A simple yes or no.
cali
(114,904 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)really acceptable. 'Stop pretending you don't understand'? Who the hell talks to others like that?
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"It's not the evasion but the insults used to create that evasion that are not
really acceptable. 'Stop pretending you don't understand'? Who the hell talks to others like that?"
...it's hypocrisy: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023794123#post19
Don't dish shit, and then expect a discussion.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)and explain that?
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Security. This is important, people would suffer. And you find amusement in that.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Lame.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)That's your problem, not mine.
I don't have to answer your silly question.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)That says all that needs to be said. Glad others can take a look at what happens when you are asked to clarify your position with a simple yes or no.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"So you just refuse to answer a direct question and hurl insults instead. Again.
That says all that needs to be said. Glad others can take a look at what happens when you are asked to clarify your position with a simple yes or no."
...you're projecting: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023794123#post19
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023794123#post30
I supposed that you think inviting others to "take a look" absolves you of your hypocrisy.
Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)since it appears that President Obama isn't going to take the fall for the Republican Shutdown and they can't have too many days pass before attributing some underhanded nefarious scheme he's privately cooking up.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)"The president has countered with his own inflation offer, a superlative CPI that the White House says would shield the neediest beneficiaries from the change. Liberals have cried foul about all of it.
...The best number to know is $130: Thats how much a typical 65 year-old would lose in yearly benefits, three years from now, under the GOPs chained CPI proposal."
They will call it fancy names, but it's still a cut.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)It was bullshit then and it's bullshit now. Expect them to come up with another "new and improved" Chained CPI with a new name they hope we won't recognize.
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)So far Obama has not even hinted at any sort of concessions to Republicans yet, not even any small concessions much less something as big as Social Security.
Right now I think we all need to be united around not compromising and as of right now Obama is with us and is consistently saying he will not compromise. If things change then by all means get angry, but let's not divide ourselves on the possibility that something might happen even though it hasn't even been suggested.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)There are people here telling us that this is nothing to be concerned about.
If that is true, then these Progressive Democrats are engaging in this demonstration for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.
Everyone can decide for themselves whom they believe.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)But I'm afraid they might have been duped.
littlewolf
(3,813 posts)Democratic congressman and my Democratic Senator oppose this.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I only wish my Republican Georgia congressman and senator would oppose it also, but I seriously doubt it.
Uncle Joe
(58,389 posts)financial wounds and against the social programs.
It also has the secondary effect of damaging the economy in general as year after year more people have less money to spend on products, so in turn businesses will be hurt as well.
Thanks for the thread, cali.