I completely expected this. I never expected to collect SS in my lifetime since, like our monetary system, it has been designed as a ponzi scheme since its inception.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/senate-nears-debt-ceiling-consensus-which-revolves-around-changing-cpi-definition
so basically they are making the cuts by changing the way inflation is calculated so that they will be able to pay out less to those who put money in (the money SS pays out is adjusted for inflation).
It's really quite insidious. This new way of calculating inflation "takes into account" the way people change their spending patterns when prices rise. For instance... say a meal for 1 person earning $10,000 is $2 a meal. Now say that the price of food rises astronomically so that it costs $20,000 for one meal. The new government CPI calculation would look at this person and say "ok. Food prices have gone up a lot and you definitely can't afford ANY food whatsoever. BUT because you aren't buying any food, the inflation in food prices won't affect you." You can clearly see what a scam this is.
Arguing over a debt ceiling and budget cuts is pointless (too little too late) since there is no possiblity of us ever paying the debts off. These extend and pretend policies only delay examination and acceptance of the fact/problem that our currency (the US dollar or Federal Reserve Notes [FRNs]) is a ponzi scheme and that this directly necessitates that our entire society is chronically (and unpayably) in debt. The longer we extend and pretend, the more thouroughly our government and big, crony capitalist, financial institutions can loot our society. Any solution is bound to be MASSIVELY painful because it will require that we acknowledge that none of these debts are ever going to be paid (deflation) or that they are completely worthless (hyper-inflation). Of these two choices, the second one is far more likely since it is politically palatable: it allows the biggest debtors (the goverments and banks) to not make the politically difficult choice of default or bankruptcy. Hyper-inflation allows these debtors to remain "solvent" until the end by allowing them to not be forced into recognizing their own insolvency.
But no matter what happens just remember: they're all criminals and should be thrown into jail.
