[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17949]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            NO JUSTIFICATION TO CUT SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. 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 CPI works this 
way:
  As the cost of living goes up, seniors inevitably turn to cheaper 
alternatives. For example, if seniors eat steak, but then can't afford 
its higher price, they can switch to something cheaper--like cat food. 
The cost of living calculation would chain 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.

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