Progressives in the House of Representatives want to meet with President Obama to discuss his proposal to cut Social Security benefits known as “Chained CPI,” part of the budget the president released earlier this month, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Top progressives including Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), John Conyers (D-MI) and Donna Edwards (D-MD) as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will demand a meeting in a letter they will send to Obama on Thursday.
Here’s part of the letter, from the Post:
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.
