OBAMA ON SOCIAL SECURITY- 'LET THEM EAT CAT FOOD.'
To the delight of Republican leaders, and the astonishment of pensioners, veterans, the disabled and organized labor, President BARACK OBAMA offered a unilateral proposal on April 10, 2013 to make de-facto cuts in Social Security benefits by linking them to a "Chained Consumer Price Index" (CPI).
Obama thus became the first Democratic President to advocate such a radical reduction in the fiscally stable, 8-decade old Social Security program initiated by President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT - and a betrayer of his own 2008 campaign promise to "protect Social Security."
Obama's chained "CPI" proposal is also known as the "cat food" strategy: As impoverished recipients are forced to spend their benefits on escalating medical, housing and other costs, less money is available for food, as in switching from, say, roast beef, to bologna and, ultimately, to "cat food."
Obama's CPI plan says, in effect, to Social Security recipients: "Since you're obviously SPENDING less on food -- we shall therefore GIVE you less benefits!"
IN TODAY'S "SHADOW" --
RONALD REAGAN acknowledges the self-solvency of the Social Security system;
BARACK OBAMA makes a 2008 campaign promise to preserve, protect and defend Social Security;
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS demands that President Obama keep his campaign promise in 2013;
ROBERT REICH, former Labor Secretary, explains the austerity mathematics behind President Obama's CPI proposal to reduce Social Security benefits;
DAN ADCOCK, Director of Government Relations and Policy at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare [ www.ncpssm.org ], discusses the impact of Obama's CPI proposal;
RICHARD TRUMKA of the AFL-CIO addresses a recent anti-CPI rally in Washington convened by the Congressional Progressive Caucus [ cpc.grijalva.house.gov ]; and
BERNIE SANDERS addresses the Senate on the matters of war costs, corporate bailouts, and Obama's proposal to cut Social Security benefits for pensioners and veterans.
Anchor: Robert Knight Engineer: Michael G. Haskins, Reggie Johnson Origin: WBAI/Pacifica
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