On the recordDecember 8, 2010
This is whether you consider people who have helped build this country to what it is, who have paid into the Social Security Trust Fund, and who very often rely entirely on Social Security for their support. These are people who, frankly, on average, are making in the magnitude of $16,000, $17,000, $20,000 for the entire year. The Social Security COLA was passed in the 1970s with a very logical rationale, which was to allow seniors to keep up with the high cost of living. The mistake that we continually make--and perhaps it's because the law is written incorrectly or perhaps it's a misinterpretation--is that we assume for a moment that, when inflation is at a very low level like it is today, it means costs haven't risen for seniors; but if you look at the things that seniors are actually buying and if you look at the things that they need in order to survive--housing, health care, their very basics for food--all of these things are actually experiencing rising costs.
