Dear Editor,
Seniors, is our government misleading you about inflation? Yes, it is. Common sense tells you this as you shop for food and pay for health care expenses, pay for prescriptions, housing and household debt. In all likelihood, there will be a no Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) next year for Social Security recipients. If true, this will be the third time in seven years.
The average yearly COLA increase from 2010 to 2016 would be only 1.2 percent – which is lower than the COLA for any single year between 1975 and 2009. Friends, something is radically wrong with the way the government has been calculating your benefits. The Consumer Price Index (DPI-U) is how the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) determines the COLA. The CPI is linked to the incomes of around 80 million Americans – Social Security, food stamps, school lunch programs, federal Civil Service and military retirees and survivors.
Consequently, the government has incentives to report the CPI low, especially to save money. One way it does this is by changing the methodology used to calculate the CPI – as was done in 1990 – to game the results. Furthermore, the CPI is an arbitrary measure that almost never coincides with monetary (real) inflation. In fact, real inflation is usually much higher.
For example: the BLS CPI measurement of inflation was 1.5 percent in 2013, while monetary (real) inflation actually grew 4.9 percent that year. Consequently, the COLA was increased only 1.5 percent in 2014 instead of the more accurate 4.9 percent – that’s over three times less than it should have been.
Your loss was the government’s gain – using your money that you paid into the system. Heard enough? Call or write your congressman – Reed or Hanna. And vote for the presidential candidate who truly supports workers, their families, retirees and the poor.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Stein
Endicott, N.Y.
