A new AARP survey found that just 23 percent of adults over age 50 think a 3.5 percent COLA keeps up with rising prices

Augusta, ME – Today, following the news that that the Consumer Price Index rose 3.7 percent in September due in part to surging gas prices caused by the Iran War while the AARP is sounding the alarm that Social Security isn’t keeping up with inflation, Misha Linnehan, spokesperson from the Maine Democratic Party, released the following statement:

“After Susan Collins voted five times to extend Donald Trump’s war in Iran, Maine seniors are being squeezed as the costs of fuel, heating oil, and everyday goods rise faster than Social Security’s cost of living adjustment. At last night’s debate, Collins admitted that this war was a mistake and yet she voted for it anyway. We need a Senator who will stand up to Trump when he tries to hurt Mainers – not one who waits until it is far too late.”

According to the New York Times, a new AARP survey found that just 23 percent of adults over age 50 think a 3.5 percent COLA keeps up with rising prices.

“For most people, the COLA just isn’t enough to keep up with what they see as rising costs in their life,” said Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president for government affairs. “When they go to the grocery store or fill up their tank with gas or get a notice that their rent is going up, it’s almost always higher than those numbers.”

Read more about how Susan Collins voted for the Iran War and is profiting off of it:

• Collins voted five times against resolutions that could have ended the Iran War.

• Susan Collins is the head of the Appropriations Committee, but she has refused to hold the administration accountable, holding no oversight hearings on the Iran war.

• Meanwhile, Collins’ stock portfolio has surged – she and her husband hold up to $150,000 in oil interests, which has potentially increased the couple’s net worth by thousands since the war began.

• Collins’s husband also holds up to $100,000 in stock in Boeing and RTX — defense contractors for whom the war has meant “billions more in product sales.”

• Meanwhile, the average price of gas in Maine has climbed more than 50% since the strikes began, and heating oil prices have reached a record high.