Public Comment

Senior citizens have been told not expect the usual cost-of-living increase in their Social Security payments. The same message has gone out to millions of other citizens who depend on veterans' benefits, disability payments, and other critical monthly allotments from the Federal safety net.

Today, two-thirds of retired Americans rely on Social Security benefits to supplement (or cover) the constantly rising costs of food and housing. With Social Security checks averaging just $14,375 a year, increasing costs of food, housing and medical care simply cannot be met if payments remain capped.

 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic's CPI Inflation Calculator, the Cost of Living rose 2.14 percent between 2013 and 2014. The Bureau's online calculator currently reports (September 2015 data) that the Cost of Living has risen .51 percent this year. But even that lower estimate still represents an increase. 

So why no COLA for older Americans? 

Taking a look at the BLS's CPI stats on the rising costs of food, we find that a standard loaf of white bread that cost just under a buck in 2005, now costs just shy of $1.50, a 50 percent increase in ten years (or an inflation rate of five percent per year). 

In just the past year, the cost of the BLS's standardized loaf has nudged upwards from $1.05 (September 2014) to $1.43 (September 2015)—an increase of 38 cents. Similarly, the cost of milk, chicken, and eggs rose 26 cents, 36 cents, and 69 cents, respectively—in just the past year. 

So why no COLA for older Americans? 

At the same time, the average pay for CEOs at the country's top 350 companies increased by 3.9% in 2014. According to the Economic Policy Institute (which provides this figure) these are CEOs whose average take-home tops $16 billion a year and whose prosperity is linked to Federally approved loopholes like tax-free "performance pay"—i.e., executive bonuses that the corporations are allowed to write off as tax-deductible "business expenses." 

Fortunately, there are some people in Washington who are standing up for citizens who do not enjoy the lavish perks of politically connected Corporate America. 

Led by progressive icon Senator Elizabeth Warren, a team of 19 Senate Democrats (including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders) have put forth a piece of legislation called the Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act. The "SAVE Benefits Act" would provide seniors and veterans with a one-time 3.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment in 2016—designed to match the adjustment handed out to America's top CEOs. 

The SAVE Benefits Act would cover the increased costs of a 3.9 percent COLA by eliminating the tax loophole that currently allows Big Business to write off those excessive CEO bonuses. 

"So let's do it," reads an online MoveOn.org petition created by Senator Warren. "Let's close the loophole and let's use the money to give seniors and vets the support they need on January 1st. Tell Congress that America supports the SAVE Benefits Act." 

Take Action: The petition is already nearing 250,000 signatures. You can read more and sign on by going to this link: 

Tell Congress: CEOs got a raise. Seniors & veterans deserve one too. 

For the record, the complete list of Washington crusaders backing the SAVE Benefits Act include the following members of the US Senate: Elizabeth Warren, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray, Chuck Schumer, Bill Nelson, Debbie Stabenow, Maria Cantwell, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeff Merkley, Kirsten Gillibrand, Al Franken, Dick Blumenthal, Chris Murphy, Mazie Hirono, Tammy Baldwin, and Ed Markey. 

Beyond the SAVE Act: The KOCH COLA 

In March 2010, Forbes magazine listed the net worth of oil billionaires Charles and David Koch at $17.5 billion each ($35 billion total). 

Three years later, Forbes reported the Koch's shared fortune had nearly doubled, to $68 billion. 

In 2014, Forbes assessed the brothers' shared wealth at $82 billion and, as of November 7, 2015, Forbes estimated the Koch's cash reserves as $88.72 billion. 

So, it's fair to say that the Koch's are in line to see an annual increase in wealth that exceeds eight percent growth. 

In just five years, the Koch brothers' enormous wealth has more than doubled (2.5), from $35 billion to $89 billion. Wouldn't the lives of millions of homeless, starving American men, women and children be vastly improved if the government were to increase their cost of living benefits to match the growing wealth of the Kochs? 

Over the past five years, the Kochs' annual income has steadily increased at a rate of 50 percent per year. 

A 3.9 percent COLA is an admirable and just goal. But imagine the social transformation that would follow from instituting a COLA that matched the yearly earnings of the Kochs. Instead of being told "No COLA for you," imagine a government whose goal and purpose was to increase the wellbeing of its citizens by 50 percent each year. We could call this goal the KOCH COLA. 

There is something deeply askew in an economic system that allows small group of multibillionaires to amass endless fortunes while, all around them, cities are crumbling, biospheres are collapsing, people are dying for lack of affordable medical care, and more than a million children attending schools (from kindergarten to Grade 12) are effectively homeless. 

In 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated the country could eliminate homelessness in the US for $20 billion. While the Kochs spend millions to buy politicians and promote policies designed to increase their wealth, 48 million fellow Americans (including 15 million children) are living in poverty and suffering from malnutrition. 

Remember what the fabled Depression Era robber Willy Sutton allegedly said when asked why he robbed banks: "Because that's where the money is." 

Gar Smith is co-founder of Environmentalists Against War and Editor Emeritus of Earth Island Journal. He is the author of Nuclear Roulette: The Truth about the Most Dangerous Energy Source on Earth (Chelsea Green).