Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared on Ed Schultz's show on MSNBC this Tuesday evening and reiterated what he had told Schultz earlier in the day on his radio show: Stay Strong, Mr. President:

President Obama campaigned for raising tax rates on households making more than $250,000 a year, but he has now proposed allowing Bush-era tax rates to expire for households with more than $400,000 a year. In talks with House Speaker John Boehner, Obama also reportedly accepted a Republican proposal to cut Social Security by using a different formula to calculate cost-of-living increases. “He’s more serious about that than I would like to believe. The last thing you want to do is cut Social Security benefits,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told radio host Ed Schultz on Tuesday.

He cited a new Washington Post/ABC News poll that showed a clear majority of Americans, 74 percent, would go along with Obama’s initial proposal to raise taxes on those with incomes over $250,000. The same poll found 60 percent of Americans said it is unacceptable to change the way Social Security benefits are calculated so that benefits increase with inflation at a slower rate than they do now. Sanders noted that the White House as recently as three weeks ago said that Social Security was off the table in the year-end deficit talks. “I want him to keep that promise,” Sanders said. “I hope the president stays strong.”

Sen. Sanders also tweeted this chart today showing the benefit cuts if the Congress were to enact the chained CPI to Social Security.

Here is a chart from @nosocseccuts showing how benefits will be cut if Congress enacts the chained CPI. #budget twitter.com/SenSanders/sta…

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 18, 2012