This email alert came in just now from FireDogLake:
President Obama and Speaker Boehner may be close to reaching a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" - and the details are not good.
The president is reportedly willing to cut Social Security benefits for current and future retirees by reducing the cost of living adjustment (COLA) and make $400 billion in unspecified cuts to Medicare in exchange for a modest increase in tax rates on the wealthy, $50 billion in infrastructure spending and an extension of unemployment benefits.
Calculating COLA payments with a "Chained-CPI" would essentially reduce seniors income over time as their medical costs skyrocket.
What's particularly bad about this option is that it will affect current retirees -- many of whom have already been hit in the gut by the recession and losses in their investment or other retirement and savings accounts. Many seniors have no options, nothing to fall back on. It's hard to imagine that Obama would sign off on such cuts. But we need to be aware of the possibility... and, as FireDogLake suggests, contact our members of Congress.
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