Obama wants to cut a $250 check to seniors

Since the Social Security Administration won't be adjusting it's payout upwards due to negative inflation, President Obama proposes a one-time payment of $250 to senior citizens. First thought, does he really think $250 is enough? I mean, that's less than 5 bucks a week...that's hardly enough for a gallon of milk. Secondly, now that the value of a dollar has started to slide (partly due to our massive deficit spending) and commodities have started to rise in response because of inflation fears, the $250 bucks amount will essentially amount to squat by the time the bill for it gets through Congress. Thirdly, the funds for this "one-time payment" has to come from somewhere: It's going to come from borrowed funds ("The White House put the cost at $13 billion.") that will have to be paid back with interest. This "one-time" payment is going to be royally expensive and not very effective in reducing economic pain for seniors. Of course, the propaganda from Democrats and the White House is going to be in full tilt for this one. There's nothing like feigning compassion for a powerful voting bloc by granting them funds that is taken from some other group. It works like a charm and it's difficult to argue against.

This leads me to believe that this may be a political ploy by Democrats and the WH to try to pin Republicans (who may resist this one-time payment idea) as being cold, angry, and anti-senior citizens. The timing is interesting because of the health care fire that's dominating Washington right now. And afterall, some of the "brown shirted thugs" at the town hall protests were grandma and grandpa, what better way to win some of their support than to grease their palms with "compassion" bucks. Never underestimate the power of an emotional argument.