117 House Democrats Sign Letter Opposing Chained CPI

Since Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) faced a backlash for her connection to Third Way (She was, of course, honorary co-chair) after Third Way's attack on Elizabeth Warren, Schwartz has severed her connections to Third Way and tried to forge a more progressive image for herself (especially because of her run for governor). For example, on December 3, she became a co-sponsor of the Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013, the main bill calling for an expansion of Social Security. The change is welcome, especially given that she was one of the 22 Democrats to vote for Simpson-Bowles the one time it got a vote in the full House.

Today, Schwarz led 116 other House Democrats in a letter calling on Obama to exclude chained CPI from his FY2015 budget.

The lead co-signers are Reps. Bruce Braley (IA-1), Cheri Bustos (IL-17), David Cicilline (RI-1), and Jan Schakowsky (IL-9). Braley is running for the open Senate seat in Iowa.

Outside supporters of the letter include the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, the Campaign for Community Change, the UAW, Greater Harleysville and North Penn Senior Services, the AFL-CIO, and the Military Officers Association of America.

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Mr. President:

We write to urge you to rule out using the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate cost-of-living and inflation adjustments for federal programs in your Budget for Fiscal Year 2015.

Switching to a chained CPI would be devastating for seniors, veterans, federal retirees, disabled individuals and others. Under legislation enacted in 1983, Social Security benefits for seniors retiring in the coming years are already scheduled to be reduced. Today, the average worker earning $43,000 annually who retires at age 65 will find that Social Security replaces 41 percent of their previous earnings. Soon, this will decline to just 36 percent of previous earnings, as the full retirement age climbs from 66 to 67 over the 2017-2022 period.

Chained CPI would further reduce those earned benefits over time because it fails to take into account inflation for older Americans. While the Affordable Care Act has had a positive effect in reducing Medicare spending growth, increased medical costs continue to take a larger and larger share of Social Security earned benefits. As you know, many seniors already face tight personal budgets, challenges that the recession has only exacerbated. For many seniors living on a fixed income, any reduction in benefits would have a serious impact on their ability to afford basic necessities.

While there have been protections proposed to mitigate the impact of chained CPI on the very elderly and certain vulnerable populations, such as the blind, disabled and seniors with limited income, many with limited, modest incomes would still be impacted. For instance, even with the benefit enhancements that have been proposed, a low-wage retiree receiving $9,600 per year would see their benefits reduced by an average of 1.5 percent between ages 62 and 81, a loss of more than $140 per year.

Your Budget for Fiscal Year 2014 proposed a comprehensive $1.8 trillion deficit reduction package that sought to replace sequestration and reflected the compromise you offered to House Speaker John Boehner in December 2012. That plan incorporated a Republican proposal to use chained CPI to reduce cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients, as well as military veterans, people with disabilities, and beneficiaries of other federal programs. Since then, however, the Republican majority has consistently refused to discuss a balanced approach that would include increased revenues and the closing of tax loopholes.

We recognize that additional measures are required to address our nation’s long-term budget challenges, and we appreciate the difficult choices you are wrestling with as you prepare a fiscal blueprint to promote economic growth. But, we respectfully ask that you not place the burden of additional deficit reduction on the backs of seniors, veterans, federal retirees, disabled individuals and others by including chained CPI in your Budget for Fiscal Year 2015. 

 

Here are the signers: 

 

Rep. Allyson Schwartz (PA-13)
Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-1)
Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
Rep. David Cicilline (RI-1)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)
Rep. Ron Barber (AZ-02)
Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Rep. Robert A. Brady (PA-01)
Rep. Corinne Brown (FL-05)
Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24)
Rep. Tony Cardenas (CA-29)
Rep. Andre Carson (IN-07)
Rep. Matthew A. Cartwright (PA-17)
Rep. Judy Chu (CA-32)
Rep. Katherine Clark (MA-05)
Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09)
Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (MO-01)
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05)
Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Rep. John Conyers (MI-13)
Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02)
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (MD-07)
Rep. Danny K. Davis (IL-07)
Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (OR-04)
Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03)
Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (FL-21)
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-35)
Rep. Michael F. Doyle (PA-14)
Rep. Donna F. Edwards (MD-04)
Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-05)
Rep. William L. Enyart (IL-12)
Rep. Elizabeth H. Esty (CT-05)
Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-22)
Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)
Rep. John Garamendi (CA-03)
Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-09)
Rep. Al Green (TX-09)
Rep. Gene Green (TX-29)
Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (AZ-03)
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-04)
Rep. Janice Hahn (CA-44)
Rep. Colleen W. Hanabusa (HI-01)
Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20)
Rep. Brian Higgins (NY-26)
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15)
Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12)
Rep. Michael M. Honda (CA-17)
Rep. Steven A. Horsford (NV-04)
Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08)
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)
Rep. Henry C. "Hank" Johnson (GA-04)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)
Rep. William R. Keating (MA-09)
Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02)
Rep. Daniel T. Kildee (MI-05)
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)
Rep. James R. Langevin (RI-02)
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02)
Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13)
Rep. John Lewis (GA-05)
Rep. David Loebsack (IA-02)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)
Rep. Alan S. Lowenthal (CA-47)
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01)
Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08)
Rep. Daniel B. Maffei (NY-24)
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12)
Rep. Doris O. Matsui (CA-06)
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04)
Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-04)
Rep. Jim McDermott (WA-07)
Rep. James P. McGovern (MA-02)
Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06)
Rep. Michael H. Michaud (ME-02)
Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-10)
Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod (CA-35)
Rep. Richard M. Nolan (MN-08)
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Rep. Beto O'Rourke (TX-16)
Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
Rep. Bill Pascrell (NJ-09)
Rep. Gary C. Peters (MI-09)
Rep. Collin C. Peterson (MN-07)
Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02)
Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-05)
Rep. Nick J. Rahall (WV-03)
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (NY-13)
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40)
Rep. Raul Ruiz (CA-36)
Rep. Bobby L. Rush (IL-01)
Rep. Tim Ryan (OH-13)
Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (CNMI)
Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (CA-38)
Rep. John P. Sarbanes (MD-03)
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (CA-28)
Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03)
Rep. Jose E. Serrano (NY-15)
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01)
Rep. Albio Sires (NJ-08)
Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (NY-25)
Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15)
Rep. Mark Takano (CA-41)
Rep. Dina Titus (NV-01)
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02)
Rep. Paul Tonko (NY-20)
Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-51)
Rep. Marc A. Veasey (TX-33)
Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43)
Rep. Peter Welch (VT)
Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)
Rep. John A. Yarmuth (KY-03)

Who from the Congressional Progressive Caucus is missing?

Karen Bass (CA-37)
Xavier Becerra (CA-34)
Michael Capuano (MA-07)
Sam Farr (CA-20)
Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Joe Kennedy III (MA-04)
Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03)
George Miller (CA-11)
Jim Moran (VA-08)
Ed Pastor (AZ-07)
Jared Polis (CO-02)
Nydia Velazquez (NY-07)