Dog Bites Man. Carney Thumbs Nose At Social Security Protections.
117 House Democrats, count ’em, 117, have signed a letter urging President Obama to exclude chained CPI from his FY ’15 budget. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:
“Switching to a chained CPI would be devastating for seniors, veterans, federal retirees, disabled individuals and others. Under legislation enacted in 1983, Social Security benefits for seniors retiring in the coming years are already scheduled to be reduced. Today, the average worker earning $43,000 annually who retires at age 65 will find that Social Security replaces 41 percent of their previous earnings. Soon, this will decline to just 36 percent of previous earnings, as the full retirement age climbs from 66 to 67 over the 2017-2022 period.
Chained CPI would further reduce those earned benefits over time because it fails to take into account inflation for older Americans. While the Affordable Care Act has had a positive effect in reducing Medicare spending growth, increased medical costs continue to take a larger and larger share of Social Security earned benefits. As you know, many seniors already face tight personal budgets, challenges that the recession has only exacerbated. For many seniors living on a fixed income, any reduction in benefits would have a serious impact on their ability to afford basic necessities.”
Here’s an article that includes all of the House signees.
Uh, by now, you know where this is going. Once again, absent from this list is the truly-awful John Carney. You know, our Congressman.
Please retire, John. Or switch your allegiance to the R’s which, come to think of it, would be the same thing. You don’t act like a Democrat, you don’t support Democratic principles, and you do more damage than good because of that.
Oh, and take Robocarper with you. You really should be ashamed of yourself.
It is a darn shame that blue Delaware can’t find a Democrat to run for congress.
carper cyborgenics über alles.
What’s interesting about this is that Carney published this OpEd in the NJ that specifically notes that chained CPI is not an option.
Signing this letter should have been a No Brainer.
Hmmm… Bad office dynamics? Poor staff work? Just don’t give a fuck?
Maybe he was tied up having lunch with some of his Republican friends.
Well, President Obama just made this moot.
Or the letter worked, no thanks to our Congressman.
Has Tom Carper heard the news that there won’t be Social Security cuts? Someone better check in on him.
There is, however, still a fix to Social Security to be made in order to put an end to Pete Peterson’s bipartisan shenanigans here:
Rep. Carney needs to co-sponsor H.R.3118 – Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013
Senators Carper and Coons need to co-sponsor S.567 – Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013
Yes I know I’m a broken record on this.
Called Carney’ DC office this morning and asked a direct question, “Why didn’t Carney sign this letter?”
Silence on the other end of the line. I followed up with if he wrote an OpEd saying he was against the chained CPI, why couldn’t he sign the letter? Again, silence on the other end of the line. I pressed, “So he’s a flip-flopper?”
At that point I was asked for my contact info. When I was done giving name and address, I got in one last shot. “You know I wouldn’t mind if he performed another flip-flop, how about if he flops over to the Republican side of the aisle? At least then his positions would reflect the positions of the R’s instead of continuing to pretend to his constituents that he was a Democrat.”
“I’ll get your comments to Rep. Carney”. Click on the other end, call finished!
He’s already stated his support of this. I don’t get why he needs to sign a letter to the president to prove that he supports it. Sounds like 117 members of congress who are just playing politics for idiots that think letters sent to the White House actually matter. Not like the President is going to get the letter and be like “Well if they only had 118 signatures then I would listen”…. I guess its not enough that he posted an op ed drawing a clear line in the sand, as Cass mentioned. In order to prove himself to El Som, he needs to resort to cheap political gimmicks like letters to the President. What other cheap pointless stunts would El appreciate? Passing out lolly pops at parades with “No Chained CPI” stickers on them? Or maybe a button campaign. No Chained CPI buttons for everyone. That will really whip the votes….sike lol
“Well if they only had 118 signatures then I would listen”
Good point. Carney is going to win his next election, so why should I bother to vote for him? What’s one more vote?
R Cocain, If you pay careful attention to the statement from this White House you would understand why it is important to make this”silly” statement. They said that the chained CPI could still be on the table in an effort to reach a Grand Bargain with the R’s.
Get the whole story before you comment, don’t just listen to the soundbites!
But Jim, you act as though that is going to change if the president gets a letter with 118 signatures vs. 117. All they care about is the whip count. Thats the only number that matters…. A letter? Sounds like a gimmick.
What good reason could Carney have to NOT sign if he was in agreement? It was a lay up. This smacks of lazy/shit ass staff work to me.
Good point, B. Cobain.
Oh wait…
http://johncarney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=239:bipartisan-letter-to-super-committee-urging-4-trillion-in-deficit-reduction&catid=13&Itemid=9
http://johncarney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=256:rep-carney-leads-bipartisan-coalition-of-111-members-urging-president-obama-to-support-six-year-transportation-package&catid=13&Itemid=9
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen.-mark-udall/letter-to-congressional-l_b_809430.html
The trick was to google “John Carney letter bipartisan”
Ahh.. yes. That’s the key. This letter was from Democrats and Carney didn’t want people to make untoward assumptions about his party affiliation. It makes sense now.
Maybe it does. Or maybe it was already a given that the President was going to take CPI off the table and these members decided to drop this letter before the White House made their announcement the next day, a political gimmick that under cuts the administration’s announcement making them look as though they came to the decision out of duress. This would explain why everyone in leadership that is close to the President is also not on this letter like Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi. Both of whom supported taking Chained CPI off the table but refused to get into a PUBLIC (Letter) debate with the fellow Democrat in the White House over it. Opting to have that fight behind closed doors. Just a thought
Shitty staff work more likely.
An aside. I wonder if all this ragging on Carney for not being a Democrat and his staff for being crappy is going to bite me in the ass when I inevitably need some constituent services?
I wouldn’t worry about it unless one of your kids decides he wants to go to a military academy.