A pathetically transparent attempt to (politically) cushion the blow seniors will feel by the news that there will be no cost of living increase for their Social Security. It will help seniors very little over the next year, but it will cost taxpayers quite a bit and Barack Obama hopes it’ll reduce some of the political damage he’ll suffer.

There will be no cost of living increase for more than 50 million Social Security recipients next year, the first year without a raise since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

Blame falling consumer prices. By law, cost of living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which is negative this year, the government said Thursday, because of lower energy costs. Social Security payments do not go down, even when prices drop.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, is pursuing a different way to boost recipients’ income. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama called for a second round of $250 stimulus payments for seniors, veterans, retired railroad workers and people with disabilities.

The payments would match the ones issued to seniors earlier this year as part of the government’s economic recovery package. The payments would be equal to about a 2 percent increase for the average Social Security recipient.

By the way, $250 to each senior, veteran, retired rail worker, and disabled person amounts to about $13 billion. Which would be fine, except our national deficit is already $1.6 trillion, our national debt is approaching $12 billion, and Candidate Obama blasted President Bush for out-of-control spending.

How will all of this be financed? The White House doesn’t know or care.

The White House put the cost of the payments at $13 billion. Obama didn’t say how the payments should be financed, leaving that up to Congress. The president is open to borrowing the money, increasing the federal budget deficit, just like Congress did with the first round of stimulus payments.

So let’s add another $13 billion to the $12 trillion in debt, never mind $1.6 trillion annual deficit, we already have. All to finance one-time payments of a couple hundred dollars that will do little to either stimulate the economy or help seniors long-term.

All of this ties into ObamaCare as well. Seniors oppose rationing of care, the loss of Medicare Advantage, and everything else that comes with the disastrous proposals. Obama hopes to buy them off with this $250 payment. Like I said, pathetically transparent.