We are squeezing the middle class and we are shrinking the middle class, pulling that security away not only from the very poor who never had it but from the hardworking people and even the upper middle class.

The single thing they were the most afraid of was the possibility that Social Security benefits would be cut.

The alternative, CPI or the chained-CPI or also called the superlative CPI that's being proposed by some members of the supercommittee and has been discussed in the deficit reduction discussions, that alternative simply does not pass the…

Thank you very much.

If those Federal programs disappear it would be very, very difficult.

I do think that cutting Social Security--that Social Security has had nothing to do with our deficit.

we cannot simply balance the budget on their backs.

Furthermore--and this is an enormously important issue, that needs a whole lot of discussion--does the current formulation for Social Security COLAs adequately reflect the purchasing habits of senior citizens?

Thank you to Senator Sanders, Senator Paul, and the rest of the members of the HELP committee for the opportunity to share my story with you today.

it is very easy to get up on the floor of the Senate and to announce how you are in favor of cutting Social Security, cutting Medicare, cutting Medicaid, cutting heating assistance, but it may be a little bit harder to learn what the…

we're talking about millions of people living on really minimal income so these are the most vulnerable people in our country who have health care needs, can't get around.

When I read that on average people in the bottom 20 percent quintile are living on $7,500 a year, that is almost beyond comprehension.

I think we have to take a very hard look at the morality and the economics of balancing the budget on elderly people and some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

there is a major effort on the part of some in Congress, especially in the Republican-led House of Representatives, to make major cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the LIHEAP heating assistance program, community health centers…

So, very specifically, what you're saying is that many more seniors are now taking Social Security at 62 at 25 percent less benefits than waiting until 66.

It overstates what seniors should be getting and that we have to move in a new direction to a so-called chained-CPI.

We don't want a national policy that says the longer you live the less purchasing power your Social Security has.

Seventy-seven percent of older adults 65 and older rely on Social Security and so cuts to Social Security benefits would just be devastating.

if those programs were cut it would be devastating for people who are just right now living on the edge?

How many workers in their 60s have lost their jobs, have seen a decline in their incomes and, very importantly, how many older American workers who have lost their jobs are never, ever going to get another job?

What happens if those programs are cut?

This country, I think we all know, is in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy create more jobs than investments in fossil fuels.

You see the application for geothermal all over the Country.

So you are saving people $360 a year in their heating.