Liberals hope to push Obama away from chained CPI

“Our hope is that through these conversations and this information, we can do the same with the chained CPI,” Schakowsky said.

The chained CPI would change the way Social Security benefits are calculated. 

{mosads}The White House has described it as a technical change — a more accurate reflection of how costs change and how seniors change their spending as a result. Press secretary Jay Carney said earlier this week that Obama remains open to the chained CPI, but not raising to Medicare age — a policy Obama had endorsed in earlier budget talks with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Chained CPI “is a benefit cut” that would “cause real pain” to seniors and retirees, Schakowsky said Thursday.

She said Congress should instead reduce the deficit by cutting Medicare’s price for prescription drugs and reviving the public health insurance plan that caused so much controversy during the healthcare debate of 2009 and 2010.