Progressives need to send a strong message that a COLA cut is unacceptable, no matter what it is called and most especially when it is being used to show that Democrats are willing to give up their historic support for Social Security in exchange for getting Republican sign-on to a disastrous deficit-reduction deal.

This is an extremely important moment not only in the fight to preserve the social safety net, but for the future of the country. Nancy and Eric are both critical figures in this fight, and have bravely led it in the face of incredible opposition, at tremendous personal sacrifice. I cannot say enough good things about them, their courage and their moral integrity.

If you’re an FDL member, you should have received an email invitation to the webinar. If you didn’t, contact Ryan Cook at (202) 506-3907 and he will make sure you get one.

If you’re not a member and would like to become one, you can join here for as little as $45/year and we’ll send you an invitation.

In a recent San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate op-ed, Eugene Steuerle, Chair and Fellow at the Urban Institute, advocates lowering the heat on the debate over increasing Social Security’s “Retirement Age.” Let’s turn up the light. Here are why Mr. Steuerle’s “myths” are in fact true.

If the President truly is interested in protecting Social Security from the privatizers, and not just demagoguing the issue for political advantage, he sure assembled a strange crew for the job. Extra points for appointing defense contractor CEO David M. Cote of Honeywell to the commission. It was recently reported that Cote opposed cutting defense contracting to reduce the deficit, and instead wanted military personnel to pay for their own healthcare.

This is class war, pure and simple. The rich against the poor. Hedge fund billionaires and defense contractors against senior citizens struggling to get by. Just in time to jam it through a lame duck Congress before the Christmas break, something both John Conyers and John Boehner have warned about — a repeat of what Erskine Bowles planned to do in the 90s.