Liberal Democrats are already railing against the notion that entitlement programs could be scaled back as part of any grand bargain to end the government shutdown and hike the debt ceiling.
At a press conference of the Congressional Progressive Caucus led by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the group said they aren’t waiting to see if the murmurs that it’s a possibility become reality.
“We are each others brother and sister’s keeper,” Ellison said. “Our citizens are precious to us. And our American citizens with disabilities are precious to us. And nobody under the bus.”
Ellison was joined by more than 20 other members and dozens of activists.
“They give their blood, their sweat, their tears, and they sacrifice and they expect certain things at the end of their retirement,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said. “One of the things that definitely expect is to live in dignity.”
If a grand bargain is put on the table, Democrats are worried something called “chained CPI” could be part of it. President Barack Obama has previously signaled a willingness to accept the change in the way Social Security benefits are calculated. Chained CPI is a proposal to slow the growth payments to Social Security recipients. While no Social Security recipient would see a cut in their benefits, their checks would not grow at the current rate, which opponents equate to a cut.
Ellison argued that the discussion of changing entitlement programs wouldn’t have started if Republicans hadn’t shut down government in an effort to defund the health care law.
“We’re going to hang together and we’re going to make sure that Americans get health care because remember this whole thing with this shutdown we’re about today is because we insist that the working poor of America get health care,” Ellison said.
