Richard Eskow: Ten Facts Obama Doesn't Want You to Know About!

The chained CPI proposal in President Obama's budget, continues to draw much deserved fire, which is only likely to increase, as more information about it becomes known. Here are ten embarrassing facts about the chained CPI, which the White House and its defenders would prefer to see overlooked: 1. Of course it's a benefit cut. Chained CPI defenders say it's not a benefit cut, just a slowdown in the rate of the benefit's planned increases. That's a silly semantic game, unworthy of serious leaders or analysts. The Social Security benefit, as laid out on the Social Security Administration's website, includes adjustments designed to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Those adjustments are not a benefit increase. They are designed to prevent the benefit from being decreased as a result of inflation, If you lower that adjustment, you are cutting benefits, Period. 2. Of course it's a tax hike. Same goes for the tax impact of the chained CPI. Our tax brackets were designed to make sure that people who were not earning more in real dollars, which includes many, if not most of the 99 percent were not hit with an unearned tax hike. The president has repeatedly promised, that there will be no middle class tax hikes, while he is President. If you substitute the chained CPI for the current formula, as the President has proposed, people will be kicked into higher tax brackets earlier. Then they will pay more in taxes, even if they are not making any more real money. That is a tax hike. 3. And it is a tax hike for everyone but the wealthy. In fact, it is a tax hike for everyone but the wealthy. In fact, it is a tax hike on all but the highest levels of income. The richest earners will not be affected, because they are already in the highest tax bracket. Got it? So it is a tax hike on everyone, except the richest among us. Actually, it is a tax hike for them too, but only on their lower levels of income. The richer you are, the less you will see in a tax rate increase. 4. You could save much more money in other, better ways. The White House has said the chained CPI will save $122 billion in benefits over ten years. Leaving aside the fact that Social Security does not affect the deficit, here is what is not being done: Close capital gains loopholes: $174 billion. End the Bush tax cuts at Obama's original $250,000 level, rather than the compromise $400,000 number: $183 billion. Cut overseas military bases by 20 percent: $200 billion. Negotiate with drug companies: $220 billion. Enact Defense friendly Pentagon cuts: $519 billion. End corporate tax loopholes,, as the President is proposing: $1.24 trillion. Faced with those numbers, the chained CPI benefit cut is embarrassing.