NEVER TOLERATE TYRANNY!....Conservative voices from the GRASSROOTS.

They are treating OUR Social Security money as though it were just another democrat giveaway program.

WE the People OWN Social Security! It's OUR money that is taken out of our paychecks and the matching additional funds by our employer for "safe keeping" until we need it after age 62.

Don’t Know What Chained CPI Is? That’s What The Politicians Are Counting On

March 28, 2013 Western Journalism

If you’re not sure what “chained CPI” is, you’re not alone. That’s a feature, not a bug. In fact, its wonky and innocuous-sounding name might just be the reason chained CPI could be included if some sort of grand bargain to reduce the deficit ever materializes.

A quick explainer: Right now, Social Security and other benefits are adjusted annually in order to keep pace with inflation (as measured by the Consumer Price Index). Switching to chained CPI would mean using a different (probably more accurate) formula, which assumes lower cost of living increases. The obvious result of switching would be that the government would have to pay out less in benefits.

The reason this idea is so appealing to green eyeshade numbers-crunchers and political strategists, alike, is simple: Most people don’t like to have their benefits cut, but since so few Americans understand what “chained CPI” is, it’s more politically feasible than other options.

Democrats who might take heat for raising the retirement age, would probably elicit a collective yawn from their constituents if they voted to change how government calculates inflation.

As TPM’s Brien Beutler reported, Nancy Pelosi has even voiced support. “No, I don’t,” consider it a benefit cut, she said. “I consider it a strengthening of Social Security.” And the Wall Street Journal has also noted that, “President Barack Obama has expressed interest in the chained-CPI idea in the past.”

But this isn’t just an idea popular with prominent Democratic politicians. Backing chained CPI means Republicans could (according to the CBO) cut $127 billion in spending over the next decade and raise additional revenue over the long run — all without having to technically vote for a tax increase.

Of course, “technically” is the operative word. The problem is, as The Club for Growth’s Barney Keller tells me, “Liberals want to link both Social Security benefits and tax brackets to chained CPI. Conservatives only want to apply it to social security benefits.”

This is a big deal. As the Wall Street Journal explains, “more people would pay somewhat more in tax, because they would move up to higher tax brackets slightly faster.” In other words, this would create a situation called “bracket creep,” whereby people who are bumped into higher tax brackets even though they aren’t making more money.