"Social Security, the tax system, and other aspects of the economy are all indexed to a measure of inflation that is widely acknowledged to overstate the increase in the cost of living."

You seriously expect us to believe that CPI overstates inflation, when the costs that make up the lion's share of a sub-median-income household's budget -- housing, energy, food, education, and healthcare -- have been increasing two times faster, or more? Luxury goods (flatscreen televisions and other tech gadgets) have been coming down in price, but those don't feed your children or run your car so you can get to work.