House liberals demand meeting with Obama on Chained CPI [View all]

[babylonsister]

House liberals demand meeting with Obama on Chained CPI
Posted by Greg Sargent on April 24, 2013 at 4:07 pm


Top House progressives are demanding a sit down meeting with President Obama to underscore their opposition to any Social Security benefits cuts as part of a Grand Bargain — a sign that the left has no intention of allowing any cuts to go forward without a major fight.

The demand is being made in a letter that is set to be mailed to the President tomorrow, and was sent my way by a source. It is signed by Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva, along with Dem Reps. Jan Schakowsky, John Conyers, and Donna Edwards, and Senator Bernie Sanders. It says:

We write to request a meeting with you to discuss the inclusion of chained CPI in your recent budget proposal.

We appreciate your ongoing efforts to negotiated with Congressional Republicans in a serious, thoughtful manner, despite their unwillingness to consider a balanced approach. We also appreciate the many positive proposals in your budget, including much-needed additional revenue and the call for universal preschool. However, at a time when many Americans are struggling, cutting Social Security benefits would take money directly out of the pockets of American seniors and slow our economic recovery…a majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives and many Democratic Senators have expressed their vigorous opposition to cuts to earned benefit programs. [...]

We would be happy to discuss proposals to strengthen Social Security, such as lifting the payroll tax cap to allow wealthy Americans to contribute to Social Security on all of their income like everyone else. We look forward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience.

Over 100 House Dems have already signed a letter opposing Chained CPI, and many of the signatories are likely to be on tomorrow’s letter. Meanwhile, Senators Sanders and Tom Harkin introduced a resolution today opposing Chained CPI, signaling strong opposition among liberals in both chambers.

All of this comes at an interesting moment. Suddenly, the idea of temporarily turning off the sequester altogether is being seriously talked about by top Democrats. It required the outcry over sequestration-caused flight delays to bring it about, however. With Republicans complaining about the flight delays — and attacking Obama as responsible for them, even as Republicans claim the sequester as a victory for themselves — Harry Reid is now calling the GOP’s bluff by suggesting we simply cancel the sequester temporarily, by counting war savings to reduce the deficit.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/04/24/house-liberals-demand-meeting-with-obama-on-chained-cpi/