Social Security was sold to Americans in 1935 under FDR's "New Deal." It was sold as a social insurance program and Congress believed that the American people needed it for the well being of their own futures. They believed in the program so much, that they left themselves out of it. That's right, Congress didn't have to pay the "contributions" (also referred to as taxes) and they didn't reap the benefits. Instead they saved and took care of their retirement themselves. They didn't want the government taking their money and investing it on their behalf. See, politicians are smarter than we think. But that all changed in 1983, nearly 50 years after the program began; members of congress, the president, and the vice president all had to pay taxes like the rest of us now.
I wasn't around in the 1930's so I don't know what the system looked like then. But looking at it now, I can see why the politicians didn't want to be a part of this "deal." The system is completely broken but maybe not in the way many of us might think it is. I hear claims all the time that Social Security is bankrupt. This statement is not completely true. Actually, Social Security operates with a surplus every year. In 2008, the accumulated surplus exceeded $2 trillion. This country, however, is bankrupt and the surplus gets "invested in treasury securities," which is a nice way of saying that the excess goes to the national debt. A debt which currently stands at over $11 trillion.
So, every time you see FICA deducted from your paycheck, that is how much is going to your retirement, right? Wrong. Your deductions go towards those Americans that are currently retired and any extra money doesn't get saved for you and your generation but, rather goes towards our national debt. So, we keep paying into the system with our fingers crossed that when we are ready for retirement the working generation behind us will be able to support our burden.
If you're reading this and thinking, "how did our system end up like this?" The truth is, it's always been like this. Social Security has been nothing more than a pyramid scheme from the beginning. The people that have already paid are now receiving benefits from those that are currently paying. This rotation works fine as long as the working generation is always larger than the retired generation. Unfortunately, the Baby Boomers are beginning to retire and the working generation will not be able to support them. It would be nice if we could reach back into our accumulated surplus and pay for it, but that money went somewhere else. And this, ladies and gentelmen, is what our government calls an insurance program - what a joke!
American Pride
I am proud to be an American everyday, but there have been two times in particular that the feeling has been overwhelming. The days following 9/11 when our flag flew from nearly every car you passed on the street and people donated blood even though it wasn't needed - they just wanted to help their fellow Americans however they could. The other time was the inauguration of President Obama. Even though I don't agree with all of his policies, he got this country excited again. Millions stood on the grounds in Washington and millions more watched on tv. It was a day this country made history - in more ways than one. It was a day this country came together. I want to see more days like this in our future. More days when people fly the American flag instead of their favorite team flag. More days when people stand in line to help as opposed to standing in line for help.
Unity
There will always be differing views - the conservatives and the liberals, but there comes a time when we need to compromise, we need to come together as a country the way we did in the days following 9/11, we need to actually stand united!
Greed
Greed - it's in the auto industry, it's in the insurance industry, it's in the mortgage industry, it's in oil, it's in energy, it's everywhere we look and it is most definately in Washington. Our best bailout is for CEO's, and politicians, and average Joe's to remove the dollar signs from their eyes and start thinking about what is right and wrong.
Religion
I understand that there are hundreds of religions practiced in our country today. And, I am not asking anyone to change their beliefs just as I do not want anyone to ask me to change mine. I am not asking that we teach religion in our schools. There is and should be a seperation between Church and State. What I do ask is that we continue to say the Pledge of Allegiance in our schools and keep in the line "under God." It is not a pledge of religion, it is a pledge of loyalty to this country! I am asking for the debate to take "In God We Trust" off of our currency to stop. Remember many of the first settlers of this country were fleeing religious persecution from England. If we start making changes like these, we will be heading straight into that which our ancestors fought to get away from.
Visitors
No comments:
Post a Comment