Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Daily Kos are taking action to stop the measure to cut Social Security benefits known as "chained" CPI. 

Take a moment to sign their petition to the U.S. Senate.

CQ Roll Call (subscription only) reported yesterday that chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), along with a broad coalition of Democrats, pushed back against President Barack Obama's budget proposal to cut Social Security benefits by switching to the "chained" CPI method to calculate Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs).

Are we spending too much on seniors and too little on kids? Many will recognize this as a classic either-or fallacy (what about tax breaks for the wealthy…?) But with Ronald Brownstein, Ezra Klein and Charlie Cook all repeating the Urban Institute statistic that federal spending on seniors is nearly seven times that on children, the idea that seniors are crowding out children’s programs is catching on in Washington. Meanwhile, Urban Institute’s estimate that state and local governments spend nine times more on kids than on seniors hasn’t gotten the same attention. Overall, it appears that government spending on seniors is roughly double (or less) that on children, though this measure includes Social Security, which is almost entirely funded through worker contributions.

Did you know that the CEOs of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, the corporate front group that wants to cut Social Security and Medicare and lower corporate taxes, have parked more than $418 billion of untaxed corporate profits overseas? Overall it is estimated that U.S. corporations have as much as $1.9 trillion sheltered overseas. That would make a nice down payment on fixing the debt.

You can read about "Fix the Debt" and more in the 2013 edition of the AFL-CIO’s Executive PayWatch launched today. PayWatch not only shines a light on Fix the Debt hypocrisy, but it also explores the huge wage gap between CEO pay and the average U.S. worker. PayWatch started in 1997. 

Visit www.paywatch.org.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent the following message about Social Security to her supporters:

My brother David has always had the special spark in our family.

Like our two older brothers, David served in the military. When he got out, he started a small business—and when that one didn't work out, he started another one. He couldn't imagine an America where he wasn't living by his wits every single day.

The budget that President Obama released today is drawing intense criticism for its cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called those cuts “wrong and indefensible.”

A president’s budget is more than just numbers. It is a profoundly moral document. We believe cutting Social Security benefits and shifting costs to Medicare beneficiaries—while exempting corporate America from shared sacrifice—is wrong and indefensible. 

While more than 2 million people signed a petition that was delivered to President Obama today urging him not to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid and to abandon a "chained" CPI formula, hundreds more have left photo messages for the president. 

President Obama will hear a straightforward and simple message from more than 2 million people today responding to reports that his budget will include cuts to Social Security and Medicare:

The 'Chained' CPI is a benefit cut to a program that does not contribute to the deficit. Do not barter it away in the name of deficit reduction. Stand strongly against all cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

U.S. lawmakers and policymakers who are pushing extreme austerity measures and spending cuts over job-creating investments as the magic path to economic stability should take a long hard look at what’s happened to the nations of the European Union (EU) that have imposed strict fiscal austerity policies.  Unemployment has soared, according to a new report on the EU labor market from the International Labor Organization (ILO).

There are more than 10 million more jobless people in Europe now than at the start of the crisis. There are now more than 26 million Europeans without jobs, with young and low-skilled workers being the hardest hit.

As word spreads that President Obama’s budget proposal will call for Social Security and Medicare benefit cuts, other voices are calling for increasing the successful programs instead as the medicine struggling families and a weak economy need.

A report for the New America Foundation highlights the crisis in retirement security and proposes expanding Social Security.