# Social Security Raise Election Ploy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 20, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277 "2011-10-20T18:01:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/21 "2011-10-20T20:19:37Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > While I’m sure it may not feel like it, the last three years have actually been a pretty good deal for SS recipients. There was no COLA in 2009 and 2010, but Seniors received a one-time payment each year anyways. So they received more money while the cost of goods didn’t increase. > > And in 2009, the cost of goods actually decreased, but the COLA can’t go negative, so their payments actually increased relative to the prices of goods. And thats a permanent increase, so recipients will receive more money relative to the cost of goods for the rest of their lives then they would’ve had the economy not cratered. > > Granted none of that (except the one-time payments) had anything to do with Obama either, but since your blaming him for all things, you mind as well thank him for the permenant increase in your standard of living due to the 2009 negative change in the CPI as well. Maybe he deserves another vacation. One year only. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/22 "2011-10-20T20:23:04Z")
This in just an OBBn rant against Obama after all. The president does not make the decision. It is not decided on by either party. it is done by figures . OBBN is off base. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/23 "2011-10-20T20:26:02Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Now you’re catching on. What, my inflation guru, should inflation be based on? Entirely ignoring stationary/falling rent and plumetting housing values? Certainly not. But on the other side of the coin, do you think that a COLA for people on SS should be based entirely on the value of real estate. Do you think that the cost of items such as food, clothing and medicine should not be taken into account? Because I can tell you that for most of us in this situation, the cost of food and medication are far more crippling than the decline of any real property we might own. That isn’t to say we aren’t concerned about our home value falling, but day to day, right now it is far down the list. Like my example upthread, gas has increased 26.3% since 2008, while in the same time period the COLA has risen 3.6%. Should that be ignored? Do you think that it doesn’t present a major problem for those on SS? And, I do realize that it is very difficult for someone who is working to care about or realize how difficult it is for someone who has had no choice but to go on SS Disability. Prior to this I had a great career and a great income. The adjustment has been very difficult. I can no longer do and enjoy things that I used to, things that you would take for granted. Like going out for a nice dinner. Doesn’t happen any longer, because spending $25 might as well be spending $2500. So, as much as I don’t want to rely on the government for my well being, I have to. I am consoled by the fact that I worked for many years and the benefit I receive is due to my contribution during my working life. Asking for that benefit to keep pace with real expenses isn’t asking too much, it’s quite reasonable. I can only assume, but I bet my assumption is correct, that if you were in unfortunate enough to have an event in your life that caused you to join me on Disability, your feelings about the issue would be a bit different than they are now. I hope it never happens to you or anyone you care about, but I didn’t think it would ever happen to me. And here I am. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/24 "2011-10-20T20:30:17Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > This in just an OBBn rant against Obama after all. The president does not make the decision. It is not decided on by either party. it is done by figures . OBBN is off base. No, this isn’t a personal rant against Obama. But it is his administration in charge. Just like when Bush was in charge it was all his personal responsibility. I would assume that the same standard applies no matter who is in office. It is his administrations responsibility to review those “figures” and if they are unfair and not keeping up he has the power to introduce legislation that can change it. But, he chooses either to ignore the situation or to do nothing about it. Or am I off base by expecting those in charge and have the power to change things to do so? Change, there is that word again. I don’t think it means what some of you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/25 "2011-10-20T20:36:54Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > No, this isn’t a personal rant against Obama. But it is his administration in charge. Just like when Bush was in charge it was all his personal responsibility. I would assume that the same standard applies no matter who is in office. It is his administrations responsibility to review those “figures” and if they are unfair and not keeping up he has the power to introduce legislation that can change it. Unfair? You seem to be simultaneously complaining that that prices have risen so the COLA should rise, too; and that the rise in the COLA is an unjustified political stunt. This argument is like the joke about the two complainers who are having dinner: “This food is terrible!” “Yeah, and the portions are so small!” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/26 "2011-10-20T20:43:30Z")
This is either the saddest or the funniest rant about Obama for a while. **obbn** seems to be mad that Obama gave him an extra 3.6%, because that’s not very much and it was timed to have an impact on the upcoming elections, and Obama is taking all the credit. Except the increase is mandated by law to occur at this time, Obama had nothing to do with it, and there is no evidence that he’s taking any credit for it. But hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good rant. Next time, why not tell the government to get their hands off your SSD benefits? It would make just as much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/27 "2011-10-20T21:07:34Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > One year only. The payments? I think there were two, one as part of the Stimulus plan in 2009, and a second as a separate program to make up for lack of a COLA adjustment in 2010. I could be wrong though. > [@obbn](#): > > If you re-read my post I said “I by no means think that if you are receiving a government benefit you should be living “large”, but enough to actually live decent would be nice.” But my point is that Obama has nothing to do with the amount SS pays out, that was set in the 80’s. To the extent that anything has changed during the Obama Admin, they have changed to the advantage of SS recipients. You may feel the payments are still to low (and as I said, I would support a small increase in them), but that doesn’t really have anything to do with Obama, other then he has slightly improved your situation. > [@](#): > > Good to hear that. I was under the impression that gasoline costs were not factored in. I have no problem admitting a mistake on my part. However I have to disagree based on personal experience that the cost of fuel is less now than it was 3 years ago (the last increase we got). The average price of gas on October 27, 2008 was $2.66. [http://news.consumerreports.org/cars](http://news.consumerreports.org/cars)…-prices-2.html Last night gas cost me $3.36 a gallon. If my math is correct gas has RISEN 26.3%. That is a FAR cry from a 3.6% COLA. (remember, this COLA covers a three year span, not a single year.) Your cherry picking the gas price on one date in October. Zoom out the graph in my cite and you’ll see that the prices cratered in late October, but were much higher beforeahand. The average for 2008 was much higher then its been 2009-2010. (indeed, your own cite says that prices were “plummeting” at that time and much higher then the previous week). As for your personal experience, it isn’t really relevant. The COLA can’t be calculated separately for every person, its an average, and gas prices on average were higher in 2008 then the next two years. > [@](#): > > “Bush should resign from office right now and let Obama take office early. Because we all know that he will have this economy fixed in a few months.” Your pissed Obama hasn’t lived up to the expectations of _some guy you were easedropping on in a restaurant_! > [@](#): > > My main beef is that the Democratic party has always thumped it’s chest and decried the rich why stating that they have the interest of the working class and poor in mind. In reality they care about those who aren’t rich as much as the Republicans do. They don’t, until it comes time for an election to come up. Then it’s back to bashing the Republicans for only looking out for the rich. The hypocracy is sickening. Obama passed several large middle class tax cuts as part of the stimulus, a large subsidy to pay for medical insurance for the poor paid for by taxes on the rich, a law making it easier for woman to sue their employers for unequal pay, a law extending Medicaid coverage of children to lower middle class families, extended unemployment benefits, food-stamps, COBRA, the earned income tax credit and WIC expanded benefits for Veterans and heavily limited the fees banks can charge consumers, made it easier for the Feds to seize insolvent banks, passed several new taxes on banks, kicked private companies out of the student loan business and created a new agency regulating consumer credit. How many of those things do you think would’ve happened under a McCain administration? ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/28 "2011-10-20T22:15:59Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > And, I do realize that it is very difficult for someone who is working to care about or realize how difficult it is for someone who has had no choice but to go on SS Disability. Prior to this I had a great career and a great income. The adjustment has been very difficult. I can no longer do and enjoy things that I used to, things that you would take for granted. Like going out for a nice dinner. Doesn’t happen any longer, because spending $25 might as well be spending $2500. So, as much as I don’t want to rely on the government for my well being, I have to. I am consoled by the fact that I worked for many years and the benefit I receive is due to my contribution during my working life. Asking for that benefit to keep pace with real expenses isn’t asking too much, it’s quite reasonable. I can only assume, but I bet my assumption is correct, that if you were in unfortunate enough to have an event in your life that caused you to join me on Disability, your feelings about the issue would be a bit different than they are now. I hope it never happens to you or anyone you care about, but I didn’t think it would ever happen to me. And here I am. So you don’t want to rely on the government but you have to. Perhaps when you had a “great career” you should have invested money in a long-term disability policy so you would not have been “forced” to rely on a program which treats you so poorly even though its methodology for calculating benefits is clear and in the open and not, as you claim in the OP, politically motivated. Or since you didn’t think anything bad would happen you decided to not pay that expense? Also, please tell me, when you were having your great career what were your views about taxes? Were you willing to pay a couple of percentage points more on SSI to allow those on disability to have a higher standard of living or were you someone who didn’t want to subsidize “those deadbeats who are cheating the system”. I understand that there are many who do not like the policies of the Obama administration but I am ashamed for America that there are so many people who are willing to take any excuse to blame him or put him in bad light. This country once was great and people of different political views could work together to find reasonable compromises. However, over the last 20 years political discourse has become so vitriolic and partisian that I truly fear what will come over the next 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/29 "2011-10-20T22:38:53Z")
> [@BigBadWolf](#): > > This country once was great and people of different political views could work together to find reasonable compromises. While I agree with the overall sentiment of your post, [ahem](http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm). ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/30 "2011-10-20T22:44:56Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > While I agree with the overall sentiment of your post, [ahem](http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm). Exception noted; of course that was just prior to the Civil War which I hope is not referred to in 30 years as “Civil War I”. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/31 "2011-10-21T03:48:39Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Like my example upthread, gas has increased 26.3% since 2008, while in the same time period the COLA has risen 3.6%. Should that be ignored? Do you think that it doesn’t present a major problem for those on SS? > > And, I do realize that it is very difficult for someone who is working to care about or realize how difficult it is for someone who has had no choice but to go on SS Disability. While I’m sympathetic to your plight, I should note that those of us still in the working world aren’t necessarily reaping COL increases. My salary has been flat (or negative) for, I dunno, five years? That seems to be true for lots of people I know as well. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/32 "2011-10-21T15:55:17Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > While I’m sympathetic to your plight, I should note that those of us still in the working world aren’t necessarily reaping COL increases. My salary has been flat (or negative) for, I dunno, five years? That seems to be true for lots of people I know as well. Exactly. Almost everyone I know hasn’t received a COL increase in _at least_ 4 years; for a few people it’s closer to 6 or 7. I’m not saying being on SSD doesn’t suck; it sure does! But, honestly, as bad as the Dems might be, they are the only ones even remotely on your side for this. According to Herman Cain it’s your fault you aren’t rich, you know? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/33 "2011-10-21T17:19:40Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Good to hear that. I was under the impression that gasoline costs were not factored in. I have no problem admitting a mistake on my part. However I have to disagree based on personal experience that the cost of fuel is less now than it was 3 years ago (the last increase we got). The average price of gas on October 27, 2008 was $2.66. [http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/10/gas-prices-2.html](http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/10/gas-prices-2.html) Last night gas cost me $3.36 a gallon. If my math is correct gas has RISEN 26.3%. That is a FAR cry from a 3.6% COLA. (remember, this COLA covers a three year span, not a single year.) I’m not sure that I have to explain this to you; I get the impression you understand all this perfectly but are pretending not to to buttress your argument. Anyway, if gasoline goes up 26% and the price of everything else goes up by 0%, the CPI will not increase by 26%. The CPI will increase by 26% divided by the relative weighting of gasoline within the CPI “basket”. In this case, that’s 3.6%. You seem to feel that this is unfair, because you have to pay 26% more for gasoline but only get 3.6% more money. Indeed, this _would_ be unfair- if you spent all of your income on gasoline. You don’t, hopefully. More likely, you spend less than 10% of your income on gasoline (9% being the national median). Let me illustrate this for you. You get $100 per month in SSDI benefits. You spend 10% of it -$10- of that on gas. Gas goes up by 26%, so suddenly you’re spending $12.60 on gas. To compensate, you get a 26% increase in your benefits, so you receive $126 per month. Thus, the mean old Social Security Administration and their eeeevil cost of living adjustment formula have given you just $26 to cover a $12.60 shortfall. Those bastards! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/34 "2011-10-22T03:04:27Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > No, this isn’t a personal rant against Obama. But it is his administration in charge. Just like when Bush was in charge it was all his personal responsibility. I would assume that the same standard applies no matter who is in office. It is his administrations responsibility to review those “figures” and if they are unfair and not keeping up he has the power to introduce legislation that can change it. But, he chooses either to ignore the situation or to do nothing about it. Or am I off base by expecting those in charge and have the power to change things to do so? Change, there is that word again. I don’t think it means what some of you think it means. [http://www.ssa.gov/OP\_Home/ssact/title02/0215.htm#act-215-i](http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0215.htm#act-215-i) This is how COLA is figured. Show me what impact the President has on it. The message is that there is a formula in the bill that was passed by congress. That and only that is what determines if SS checks will go up. ---
**Author:** ![pinqy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a3d4f5/32.png) [@pinqy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinqy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/35 "2011-10-25T14:11:29Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Good to hear that. I was under the impression that gasoline costs were not factored in. I have no problem admitting a mistake on my part. However I have to disagree based on personal experience that the cost of fuel is less now than it was 3 years ago (the last increase we got). The average price of gas on October 27, 2008 was $2.66. [http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/10/gas-prices-2.html](http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/10/gas-prices-2.html) Last night gas cost me $3.36 a gallon. If my math is correct gas has RISEN 26.3%. That is a FAR cry from a 3.6% COLA. (remember, this COLA covers a three year span, not a single year. Social Security COLA is based on change in the 3rd Quarter average of the CPI-W. Third quarter is Jul-Sep, and as your own link points out, Oct 2008 (AFTER the period used for COLA passed) showed a significant decrease in price. So you’re using a low point compared to now. Looking at the CPI-W 3Q gasoline avg for 2007 the index was 243.436 (143.4% higher than the 1982-1984 avg). For 2008 it rose to 329.047, a 35.2% increase, which helped boost the All Items CPI up 5.8%, which was the COLA increase for 2009. But in 3Q 2009, it dropped down to 221.987, a 32.5% DECREASE from 2008. This helped drop the All Items CPI down 2.1%, so no COLA increase for 2010. In 3Q 2010, gasoline went back up to 234.569, a 5.8% increase from 2009, All Items went up 1.5%, BUT the COLA is based on the last time there was an increase. Average gas in 3Q 2010 was still lower than 2Q 2008 (by 28.7%) , and same with all items (0.6% lower than 2008). 3Q 2011, gas still is not up to what it was Jul-Sep 2008 (remember, you’ve been citing October)…it’s still 5.1% lower than Jul-Sep 2008, though it is 33.2% higher than last year. But food has gone up since 2008 (by 6%) and that helped boost the All Items index up 3.6%, which is why there’s a COLA increase for 2012. The formulas have been in place since 1983 (I think), and that’s how it plays out. Of course these are all National averages of Cities, and will not reflect exactly your own personal inflation experience. All the data is freely available at [Bureau of Labor Statistics database](http://data.bls.gov/pdq/querytool.jsp?survey=cw). Use Not Seasonally Adjusted data. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277/36 "2011-11-03T22:54:36Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > No, this isn’t a personal rant against Obama. Well, I’m convinced. For someone who depends so much on (and has such strong opinions of) the way that Social Security payments are calculated, you haven’t exactly gone [out of your way](http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=how+are+social+security+COLAs+calculated&l=1) to get a clue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-raise-election-ploy/600277.md?page=1)