Another year of dog food for Grandma!

For yet another year, America's seniors and disabled are going to be skipping meals.

Yesterday, the government announced that - for the second year in a row - there will be no cost-of-living increase for Americans who receive Social Security or disability benefits. The excuse is that inflation wasn't high enough.

What??? If there's any inflation at all, there's supposed to be a cost-of-living increase. Them's the rules. If the Tea Parties don't like it, too fucking bad.

Meanwhile, Congress has received automatic pay increases - which violate the Constitution's provision against receiving pay raises in the middle of a term.

For years - starting in 1995 - Congress intentionally undercounted inflation just so the cost-of-living increase for Social Security recipients would be less than it should be. There was one year when they were caught and had to pay America's seniors what was stolen from them, remember? Maybe there ought to be a cost-of-living adjustment this year just to make up for all the years when Congress lied.

Congress has money for bailouts and useless wars, but not enough to pay seniors what they put into the system?

And did I tell you that the head of the Social Security Administration (who administers these rulings) happens to be a Bush appointee?

Meanwhile, there's a sensible bill in Congress to pay seniors a onetime $250 sum to help ease the burden created by the lack of a cost-of-living increase. But not a single one of the bill's 127 cosponsors is a Republican, of course.