Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), a top Senate Democrat, told Greg Sargent of the Washington Post on Tuesday that an inclusion of chained CPI in a final deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff on January 1 is a measure that Democrats are not likely to support:
In an interview with me this morning, Senator Dick Durbin, a top ally of the White House, told me he opposes including Chained CPI in the final deal unless it completely exempts Social Security. He said it would be difficult for Democrats to support Chained CPI for Social Security if it ended up in a final deal, though he said it was premature to say anything definitive about how they would vote.
“We ought to deal with Social Security in a separate conversation that is not part of deficit reduction,” Durbin told me. “To do it at this stage is the wrong way to go.”
Obama’s latest offer to House Speaker John Boehner included a concession — making the Social Security cost of living adjustment formula less generous by using a new index, chained CPI.
