Political Quotes

“might I first take the opportunity to congratulate the chairman for this initiative. It is characteristic of his leadership of the Finance Committee, which is bipartisan whenever that is possible, which is factual, which seeks evidence and answers. This sense-of-the-Senate resolution recognizes the mounting evidence that, contrary to the intent of the Congress and the President, Federal tax provisions, Social Security benefits, and other Federal program benefits are being overadjusted for inflation. The resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that: * * * all cost-of-living adjustments required by statute should accurately reflect the best available estimate of changes in the cost of living. In its final report issued on December 4, 1996, the Advisory Commission to Study the Consumer Price Index--the Boskin Commission concluded that: While the CPI is the best measure currently available it is not a true cost of living index. . .. The Boskin Commission concluded that the CPI overstates the cost of living in the United States by 1.1 percentage points. The Commission's findings are very much in line with the prevailing professional judgment of economists as to the size of the upward bias in the CPI.…”