February 20, 2014

Seniors Celebrate Removal of Chained CPI Social Security Cut from President Obama’s Budget

The following statement was issued today by Barbara Franklin, President of the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans:

“We are thrilled with reports that President Obama heard Alliance members from across the country and removed the chained CPI cut to Social Security and other programs from his 2015 budget.

“Our voices were heard. Nationwide, grassroots actions and people-powered politics worked. We applaud the President for doing the right thing: listening and keeping this unjust cut out of his budget proposal. A negotiating tactic or not, cuts to Social Security’s earned benefits will only serve to increase income inequality and hurt the most vulnerable members of our society.

“Now that the pesky chained CPI is out of the way, we can focus on the real task at hand, articulated well by members of Congress like Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), as well as Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), which is to expand Social Security so that it fits the retirement security needs of today.

“The Alliance for Retired Americans made eliminating the chained CPI our top priority of the past year. We held dozens of “Human Chain” events with thousands of Alliance members all across the country, and are elated that they paid off. To see more on those efforts, go to http://retiredamericans.org/state-by-state/Human_Chain.

“The 4 million members of the Alliance for Retired Americans, together with our allies, will continue to do our part to educate, advocate and mobilize for retirement security for Americans who work hard and should be able to count on a secure retirement. We thank President Obama for listening to us.”