THE CASE FOR PRIVATE RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS. Betsy's Page remarks on Our President calling for a $250 Social Security supplement in a year when the benefit formula calculates no cost of living adjustment.

What's the use of having rules for determining when seniors get a COLA increase if politicians will just keep advocating handing out checks anyway?

Mutual funds and annuities have formulas for distributing earnings that cannot be amended without a shareholder vote. It's possible for dissident shareholders to solicit proxies to change those formulas, and I suppose it's possible for people to campaign for the board of directors with the promise of changing the formula. The incumbent management, however, cannot unilaterally distribute extra benefits.