WASHINGTON, DC -- You'll hear talk of tax and entitlement reform early next year as House and Senate budget conferees once again look for ways out of another fiscal panic. But before you can say "don't touch my Social Security," a group of progressives -- Democrats in Congress, the AFL-CIO, NOW, MoveOn -- is saying: Let's raise Social Security benefits.

And Ohio Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will join them today.

The P

, composed of activists from liberal and labor organizations behind high-profile political and public policy campaigns such as the draft-Elizabeth Warren movement, wants to boost the annual cost-of-living adjustment. By the time a retiree was age 75, he or she would be getting an extra $452 a year, and $807 more a year by age 85.

This could resonate with retirees -- nearly 2 million in Ohio -- who learned last week that the 2014 cost-of-living adjustment will be a meager

.

The annual COLA change is based on the rate of inflation. It is low. But Brown has said before that the COLA formula, derived from the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, does not accurately measure the spending patterns and needs of seniors, who spend disproportionately more of their incomes on food, drugs, energy and necessities. In 2011, Brown

a bill to create a new COLA formula for Social Security use.

To finance the change, and to help Social Security's long-term solvency, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee would "scrap the cap" on the

that workers pay to finance the Social Security system. That tax is 6.2 percent, with employers paying another 6.2 percent.

But only income below a certain level -- $113,700 in 2013 -- is taxed.

The proposal that Brown supports, promoted by Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Mark Begich of Alaska, would phase out that cap, so that high-wage earners would eventually keep paying no matter how much they earned. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee says this is only fair -- that if a teacher or truck driver earning $50,000 has to pay 6.2 percent of that income for Social Security taxes, why shouldn't someone earning $250,000?

Not coincidentally, this would be a counter-offer to an idea discussed by President Barack Obama and others who say something must be done to assure that Social Security survives as it collides with demographic and economic realities.

Obama has discussed paring back COLA increases as a way of addressing the solvency issue, because, as one economic theory goes, the increases may actually be slightly too high.

How could the COLA hike, at 1.5 percent, be too high?

This theory holds that benefits increases tied to the CPI fail to take into account consumer behavior. When prices for a commodity go up, consumers switch their purchases to an alternative commodity -- more chicken, less beef, for example.

This has led to proposals for something called chained CPI, which would factor in such behavioral changes.

Critics including AARP

that chained CPI would result in smaller annual Social Security benefits raises. While relatively slim in a particular year -- about 0.3 percent less than regular CPI -- the effect would compound over time and harm seniors, AARP says.

"The gap accelerates and begins looking like real money,"

Kim Keister for AARP in February. "If you're 62 and take early retirement this year, by age 92 âÂÂ when health care costs can skyrocket and more than 1 in 6 older Americans lives in poverty âÂÂ you'll be losing a full month of income every year."

Adam Green, a PCCC founder and former MoveOn online coordinator, issued a statement praising Brown for joining the movement today:

"Senator Brown's endorsement of expanding Social Security benefits is a clear sign that Democrats are ready to go on offense after winning the government shutdown, after years of playing defense. A coalition of progressives representing more than 20 million people is intent on making expanding Social Security benefits a campaign issue in 2014 and 2016. It's not an accident that progressives are now rallying around Senator Harkin from the key presidential state of Iowa and Senator Brown from the swing state of Ohio -- and our polling shows that expanding benefits is super popular even in deep red states like Texas and Kentucky. Progressives are on offense, and we're not looking back."