That S.O.B. Obama takes with one hand, gives back with the other, and then boasts about how generous he is to our suffering seniors and waits for everyone to thank him for his generosity.
Sorry, but the cost of living freeze was bogus in the first place. There is obvious inflation in the essentials you need to survive—food, gas, home heating, electric bills, etc.
If he’s so damned compassionate, why did he push through that bogus s.s. freeze in the first place?
There was no freeze pushed through. Social Security COLA increases are determined by a formula based on increases in the CPI, not voted on yearly.
It’s not really bogus. It’s not whether cost of living went up this year, it’s whether it is higher than it was in August of 2008, when the last CPI increase was calculated. That CPI was artificially high because gasoline was over $4.00 a gallon (it is at $3.00 a gallon now, a 25% reduction).
Until the total CPI rises above what it was in August of 2008, there will be no adjustment.
On the other hand, They got a 5.9% increase for 2009 based on the 2008 number. If they had done the CPI in November instead of September, the increase would have been much less, there’d be a small increase now, and their total SS would be about the same as it will be.
I think seniors are better off having gotten the increase 2 years ago.
‘food, gas, home heating, electric bills’
These items are specifically excluded from the calculation of ‘underlying inflation’.