I”m writing to respond to a recent letter to the editor “Are they crazy?” by Jaxan Christensen. That letter is factually incorrect. Her two most alarming errors regard Congressional pay and Social Security. Congress did not give itself a pay raise this year. In fact, we voted to make sure that we did not get a pay raise or cost of living adjustment (COLA) this year.
We also did not vote to cut the Social Security COLA. Social Security is very important to many folks in our district. Almost 30 percent of the population in our district receives Social Security benefits every month, and approximately 23 percent of those constituents rely on Social Security benefits as their sole income.
The COLA is set every year by the Social Security Administration, according to a complicated formula, in order to peg the COLA to inflation. The formula is set by the Social Security Administration separate and apart from Congress. Last year, inflation skyrocketed due to unprecedented increases in the cost of gas and oil. As a result, Social Security, VA, and Railroad Retirement beneficiaries received an historically high COLA of 5.8 percent in Jan. 2009. In October, the Social Security Administration announced that due to the formula”s calculations, there will not be a COLA in 2010.
I understand the concerns that have arisen because seniors will not receive a COLA this year. I am hopeful that the 2009 COLA (the highest COLA to seniors in history) will continue to sustain seniors, and that as our economy grows more stable by the day, inflation will remain low and consumer prices will not unduly burden seniors.
We face enough real challenges in this tough economy. Spreading misinformation in order to inspire fear and outrage is not the way to participate in a democracy. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts.
Congressman
Mike Thompson
