According to Politico and other news organizztions, President Barack Obama will propose cuts in entitlements when he releases his budget proposal next week.

Most notably, he will include a “chained CPI,” the adjustment that would over time reduce cost-of-living increases to Social Security and other federal benefit programs,” Politico reported.

But as The Hill notes, the “chained CPI” will also raise tax Revenue, which is drawing the opposition of Republican House Speaker John Boehner:

“Aides to Boehner emphasized that the president’s chained CPI proposal would affect not just benefit increases, but also the way tax brackets are adjusted annually. They pointed to an Associated Press analysis that found that while the inflation adjustment would reduce federal spending by about $130 billion over the next decade, the change in how tax brackets were calculated would generate $100 billion in higher taxes.”

The proposal, though, puts Hawaii’s congressional delegation in a potentially difficult political position of opposing the president. None returned emails today.

However, Sen. Mazie Hirono co-sponsored a non-binding Senate amendent opposing the use of “chained CPI,” which would also apply to veterans benefits. Rep. Connie Hanabusa in 2011 signed a letter with 70 others opposing the use of the chained CPI in determining benefits.

Already, the AARP was opposing the measure.  AARP Hawaii spokesman Bruce Bottorff, told Civil Beat this afternoon the group is releasing a national poll that will purpot to show large opposition to the use of the “chained CPI.”

He said, “If Chained CPI is in the President’s budget as reported by multiple news outlets today, AARP will stand up against the proposed cuts to seniors and some of the most vulnerable among us.  As our poll says, Americans strongly oppose cuts to the Social Security benefits they’ve earned, and the veterans who served our country honorably shouldn’t face one, let alone the two cuts that chained CPI would inflict.  Additionally, widows, children and people with disabilities don’t deserve this…  

“AARP believes our elected officials should have a separate conversation about adequacy and solvency for Social Security.  But cutting Social Security benefits for deficit reduction by implementing an unfair stealth formula isn’t the right way to do it,” he said.

— Kery Murakami