Every time a new concept surfaces on the national scene, there is a flurry of articles about it on the Internet. Some of what is written is obviously biased toward one political camp or another. Such is the case with the chained CPI. We thought trying to take a look at it as objectively as possible might be helpful.

First, the chained CPI is part of President Obama’s 2014 budget plan as it relates to Social Security.

Second, a number of government programs (like Social Security) calculate benefits based on the rate of inflation. Inflation is a measure of changes in the cost of living, which typically increases to one degree or another annually. There are different formula used for calculating changes in the cost of

Understanding the Chained-CPI Our elected representatives in Washington DC are looking at changing the consumer price index (CPI) because they can lower it by about 0.3 percentage points per year. Such a change will reduce Social Security benefits. A recent AARP post said a “…typical beneficiary –with an annual income of roughly $20,000–will lose over [...]

Social Security Turns 77 Today Today, August 14, 2012, Social Security celebrates 77 years of keeping seniors out of poverty, providing assistance to disabled Americans who can no longer work and offering reassurance to the elderly that they will be able to live out their lives in relative peace and comfort. True, the average Social [...]

Many of us seniors continue to be concerned about the future of Social Security and Medicare. Politicians in younger generations hold the reins to our two life-line insurance programs. Sometimes we feel helpless about what we can do to ensure the security of our future, and that of our children.

Some of us take the time to telephone our representatives or email them regarding our opinions about their positions and vote-casting. And some times we feel helpless, believing that even offering our opinions doesn’t make any difference, particularly when our opinions differ from the positions our representatives take.

Trustees’ Annual Report Highlights Social Security Strengths The 2011 annual report of the Social Security Trustees was published in May, 2011.  The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare provides an introduction to the report summary, including highlights from the report: “Throughout our nation’s recent recession, Social Security has demonstrated its strength by paying [...]

Tell your friends.  Tell your family.  Tell your children and grandchildren, your neighbors, strangers on the street…  SOCIAL SECURITY AIN’T BROKE!  It doesn’t need fixing.  It doesn’t need to be changed.  It works.  Period.// Let’s talk about FACTS again… The Social Security Trust Fund cannot borrow money.   Because the Trust Fund cannot borrow money, it [...]

It’s still not clear what our new congress plans to do about Social Security.  The President didn’t say much about it in his State of the Union address.  What he did say was he would improve Social Security “without putting at risk current retirees” and “without slashing benefits for future generations.” This is a step in [...]

All the evidence about Social Security continues to say the same thing:  Don’t change Social Security.  Leave the program, and Senior Citizens in our country, alone. The latest op ed is a little long, but very well written with a lot of essential points to consider.  Richard Eskow wrote it and SCJ highly recommends you [...]

A lot is being said in national media today about Social Security being a Pension Plan.  And an equal amount of verbage is spewed about Social Security being an Entitlement program (i.e., senior citizens are ‘entitled’ to retirement benefits provided in a program administered by the Federal Government).  Let’s take a look at the issues. [...]

Some recommendations appeared this past week that we senor citizens need to study carefully.  The Co-Chairs of the Fiscal Commission on the deficit released their recomendations for dealing with the serious deficit issues facing the United States.  The report isn’t supposed to be delivered for another three weeks, but Co-Chairs Bowles and Simpson delivered the abbreviated list on [...]