Obama calls for extra cash for seniors

President Obama urged Congress this afternoon to give seniors an extra $250 payment to help them recover from investment losses.

The move would also offset an expected announcement Thursday by the Social Security Administration that there will be no cost of living increase next year -- for the first time since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975 -- because there was no inflation this year.

The White House said the payments would cost $13 billion and would go to 57 million Americans -- 49 million Social Security beneficiaries, 5 million Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries, 2 million veterans benefit recipients, 500,000 railroad retirement and disability beneficiaries, and about 1 million public-employee retirees.

“Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of those hardest hit by this recession. That is why I am announcing my support for an additional $250 in emergency recovery assistance to seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities to help them make it through these difficult times. These payments will provide aid to more than 50 million people in the coming year, relief that will not only make a difference for them, but for our economy as a whole, complementing the tax cuts we’ve provided working families and small businesses through the Recovery Act,” Obama said in a statement.

“This additional assistance will be especially important in the coming months, as countless seniors and others have seen their retirement accounts and home values decline as a result of this economic crisis. I want to compliment all the members of Congress who have been working to address these challenges, especially Senators Reid, Baucus, Sanders, and Lincoln, Speaker Pelosi, and Representatives Rangel, McCarthy, and DeFazio.”