National Review Online awarded Prosperity Caucus member Daniel Corrin an honorable mention in its 2010 challenge. NRO contributor Kate O’Beirne conducted a search for “worthy ideas from within and beyond the Beltway” to improve government. Corrin’s suggestion was to “Put COLAs on a diet.” NRO reports….

Daniel Corrin from Washington, D.C., notes that “every January the federal government increases retirees’ Social Security payments, federal pensions, and government workers’ salaries by the growth in the Consumer Price Index.” He suggests that the federal government wait until the cost of living has gone up by 5 percent before implementing any of these Cost of Living Adjustments. Assuming a steady 3 percent inflation rate, for example, the federal government would give out a 5 percent COLA every 20 months instead of a 3 percent one every year. Over time, the savings add up (Corrin’s back-of-the-envelope calculation has the federal government cutting spending by more than $250 billion over the first five years).

The entire article can be found here.