Queens Tribune

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens) blasted the Social Security Administration last week - for following the law.

Weiner's office called a press conference last Thursday accusing the SSA actuaries of forgetting their mission to help seniors "keep up" with cost of living increases. The economic conditions of the past year, if they keep in trend, preclude by law the SSA from increasing seniors' checks.

Every year since 1975, seniors have gotten a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) addition to their checks, to keep up with rising costs. The first quarter of this year actually saw a decrease of 4 percent in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Workers (CPI), from the third quarter of last year; consumer goods are actually costing less because energy prices have declined, according to the Congressional Budget Office Director,

Weiner explained at the Pomonok Senior Center in Fresh Meadows Thursday that while electronics prices and the general CPI are down, the costs of things seniors buy are up.

"To say that the costs for seniors will not go up for two years is to pretend that the laws of economic gravity don't apply to older people. Rent is up. Food prices are up. Bus and subway fares are up. Healthcare costs are up. The purpose of the COLA is to help seniors keep up," said Weiner, also saying "The Social Security Administration seems to have forgotten that mission." Weiner vowed during the press conference that he would be "firing back," also saying he has allies in Congress, though his office would not name those allies.

Who he would be firing back at was unclear. The SSA is bound by the same law that first granted COLA increases to seniors, not to increase pay-outs to seniors in years when the CPI is down. "We have absolutely no discretion whatsoever. We're adhering to the law. This is what the law specifies," said SSA spokesman Mark Lassiter who added "If they [Congress] choose to change the law, we'll administer whatever law they put into effect."

A letter to SSA read; "I have long held the belief that calculating Social Security increases based solely on the Consumer Price Index is unfair and inaccurate." The letter was signed by Weiner, Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn (D-Flushing), and State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing).

Federal law mandates that SSA's Commissioner, Michael Astrue, can only compute COLA increases based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Congressional Budget Office wrote that it anticipates no COLA increases for 2010 and 2011. Lassiter emphasized that all the figures are projections, saying they would have to wait until October.

"We just want them to follow due process," Weiner's Chief of Staff Marie Ternes said, adding that the Congressman didn't want SSA trustees to "obfuscate the process when they are saying things that aren't in line with what they're required to do," and that the trustees "already predict there's not to be a COLA."

When confronted with Lassiter's statement that SSA is waiting until October to find out for sure, that the figures are projections until then, Ternes said Weiner is "disappointed because the decision has already been made" by SSA, and that Weiner's office has the trustees "on record" saying the decision has already been made. She did not produce those records.

She instead referred to an Aug. 24 Weiner appearance on Fox News's Channel's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" during which Weiner said "there's something suspicious about those numbers," and "[w]e have never had the announcement two years hence that we know what the inflation rate is going to be."

In response to his appearance, the American Academy of Actuaries sent Fox a letter saying there were numerous inaccuracies reported by Weiner, and the annual Social Security trustees' report "routinely includes long-term projections of the system's future financial condition."

The letter, written on Sept. 4 by Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco, encouraged Fox to inform Weiner's office, and said he was trying to reach his office to do so himself. As of press time, there is no confirmation that the letter ever reached Weiner, however it was posted on the American Academy of Actuaries Web site.

Reach Reporter Lori Gross at lgross@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 124