Close the bonus loophole and give seniors a raise!

Senator Warren.

On Veterans Day we recognize and honor the sacrifices our service members and their families make for our country. 

We owe our service members the very best, but unless Congress acts, on January 1 more than 9 million veterans who rely on Social Security benefits or pension and compensation benefits will not get their annual cost of living increase.

This freeze in funds, which has happened only two other times since 1975, will be really tough on veterans among the 71 million Americans who depend on Social Security and other benefits to help make ends meet. 

Two-thirds of seniors depend on Social Security for the majority of their income, and for 15 million Americans, Social Security is all that stands between them and poverty.

. . . .

Social Security is supposed to be indexed to inflation so that when prices go up, benefits go up, too. 

But Congress' formula samples the spending patterns of about a quarter of the country, and the formula isn't geared to what older Americans actually spend.


Projections for the costs of core goods and services show inflation is up about 2%, but seniors won't get a cost of living increase -- mostly because of falling gasoline prices, which don't mean as much to millions of seniors who don't commute to work. 

So seniors, who are already struggling to scrape by to cover rent and exploding prescription drug prices, will be left scrambling.

. . . .

Taxpayers subsidize CEOs' huge pay packages through billions of dollars in tax giveaways, including subsidies like special tax-deferred compensation accounts and a crazy loophole that allows corporations to write off obscene bonuses as business expenses.

. . . .

We can afford to give seniors and vets a raise.

 In fact, we can increase pay for seniors and vets without adding a single penny to the deficit simply by closing the bonus loophole for corporate executives. 

According to the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, closing this loophole will create enough revenue to help millions of Americans and still have enough left over to help extend the life of the Social Security trust fund.


Seniors and vets would get an increase of about $581 next year — a little less than $50 a month. 

That $581 increase would cover almost three months of groceries for seniors or a year's worth of out-of-pocket costs on critical prescription drugs for the average Medicare beneficiary. 

That $50 a month is worth a lot to those 71 million Americans. 

According to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, that little boost could lift more than 1 million Americans out of poverty.

She's closer to Bernie than Hillary on this and other issues.

Why didn't she run?