President Barack Obama called on Congress Wednesday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The Social Security Administration is scheduled to announce Thursday that there will be no cost of living increase next year. By law, increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year.
"Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of those hardest hit by this recession," Obama said in a statement. "This additional assistance will be especially important in the coming months, as countless seniors and others have seen their retirement accounts and home values decline as a result of this economic crisis."
... A senior administration official said Obama was open to borrowing the money, increasing the federal budget deficit. The official, who requested anonymity, was not authorized to speak on the record.
The fact that inflation is negative means that the social security payments seniors receive are already buying more than they did last year. Thus, there is no need to "make up for" a lack of cost of living increase. Does it need to be pointed out again that on average the elderly are in fact much richer than the young? This idea, like many of President Obama's, taxes the poor and gives to the rich. If Obama wants to help people who have been hurt by the recession, than it is not clear to me how this will do it. This seems more like borrowing money to buy votes.
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