Although I believe it actually appears nowhere in the laws as a requirement, SS and Retired Military raises are based on COLA, and if COLA does not increase, then our retired pay will not increase.
And COLA 'supposedly' reflects the cost of specific services to Americans over the year (groceries, etc.) We've seen our costs go up higher in general than what COLA reflects. Some items, things we all use, do not even count (Like fuel??) in the COLA calculation -- although it does reflect accidentally when groceries go up because transport goes up.
I do know that when a loaf of bread goes from $1.50 to $2.00 in a year, that's 25% rise to me ... and then COLA goes up 5.8%, sometimes I wonder about the 'federal math'.
