I'm old. I vote. Now, gimme.

The Social Security Administration has determined that the core inflation rate is close enough to zero. As a result, there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients in 2011.
[Disclaimer: I currently receive Social Security disability payments.]
The SSA bases its rates on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  In 2009, because of a jump in energy prices, the payments increased by more than 5%, an increase that, upon review, was higher than warranted. Because the payments increased more than they should have, it will take a time of inflation before the price index recovers to the 2009 level.
There is talk about a $250 payment in lieu of a COLA, but nothing will happen until after the election.
The newly-minted Google Price Index (GPI) indicates that prices overall are declining, that we're nearing a deflationary period. Deflation, as in lower prices, sounds good to most of us, but can be just as disruptive to the overall economy as inflation because, well, because people who are selling stuff don't make as much money. As a side note, the GPI measures prices on items sold on the Internet and so doesn't address many of the things that Social Security recipients purchase.
So, there will be no COLA increase.The reaction from seniors was loud and clear:

“We have a generation now that we’re not going to leave a very good legacy for,” said one senior advocate.

A good bit of the commentary tied the no-COLA-for-you decision to the upcoming election, that Democrats would suffer because they were trying to balance the budget by inflicting suffering on the elderly. That might be fun, watching AARP voting in a Tea-soaked Congress.
In a similar vein, Yvonne Abraham notes in The inside men that the State Police Association of Massachusetts has endorse Charlie Baker because they believe that a key part of his platform, state pension reform, cannot pass a Democrat-controlled legislature. Elect people whose policies you oppose because you want to slap the incumbents.
Last year, I wrote a similar piece and heard from some people who made good points about how the COLA calculations didn't truly reflect the costs that affect seniors. No doubt, some people's expenses have gone up more than the average and that there are people who are receiving Social Security payments who don't need them. Big systems that operate on averages are inherent unfair to most people, unfair in their favor or against. To insist, however, that Social Security payments should increase at rate faster than wage income is unrealistic and even, well, wrong.