Released: October 16, 2009

Lawmakers back $250 Social Security checks

Source: Neil Irwin, Washington Post

Congressional leaders welcomed President Obama’s proposal to make $250 payments to Social Security recipients Thursday, as a government report confirmed there will be no automatic cost-of-living adjustment for the program.

Some public policy experts, however, argued that the action amounts to a politically motivated giveaway to seniors.

Because consumer prices fell in the July through September quarter, compared to the same period last year, there will be no cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits in 2010 for the first time in the 34 years that those adjustments have been made automatically.

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