Byron Dorgan: “today I join my colleagues Senator Dodd and Senator Harkin to submit a sense-of-the-Senate resolution opposing any…”

“today I join my colleagues Senator Dodd and Senator Harkin to submit a sense-of-the-Senate resolution opposing any precipitous change in the way the Consumer Price Index [CPI] is calculated that is based on politics rather than sound economic analysis. The discussion in recent days by the Speaker of the House and some others about the calculation of the Consumer Price Index reaffirms the understanding that just because a person is thoughtless doesn't mean they can't also be reckless. The precipitous call for a change in the Consumer Price Index by the Speaker and others shows again how attracted they are to gimmicks and illusions to prop up the house of cards they call an economic strategy. This latest suggestion that they dub as technical is one that would cut Social Security COLA's for America's elderly and increase taxes for most of America's taxpayers--all of this under something that they would describe as a technical change. Let's review what's been said about this. Recently, Chairman Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve Board testified before Congress and said that in his judgment the CPI calculation overstates the CPI by 0.5 to 1.5 percent. I will leave aside, for the moment, the question that begs to be answered. What on earth are Alan Greenspan and his buddies at the Fed doing raising interest rates six times if they think the real rate of inflation is only 1.2 to 1.7 percent.”