Irony
October 05, 2004
About an hour ago, I got the following email from my stepmother.
Subject: Info on social security you'll want to know
SOCIAL SECURITY:
Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:
1.) That participation in the Program would be
completely voluntary,
2.) That the participants would only have to pay
1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into
the Program,
3.) That the money the participants elected to
put into the Program would be deductible from their
income for tax purposes each year,
4.) That the money the participants put into the
independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the
General operating fund, and therefore, would only be
used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program,
and no other Government program, and,
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees
would never be taxed as income.
Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to "put away," you may be interested in the following:
Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent "Trust" fund and put it into the General fund so that Congress could spend it
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratically-controlled House and Senate.
Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?
A: The Democratic Party.
Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?
A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the "tie-breaking" deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the U.S.
Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?
MY FAVORITE :
A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive SSI Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!
Then, after doing all this lying and thieving and violation of the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!
And the worst part about it is, uninformed citizens believe it!
Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during this 2004 election year!
If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.
How many people can YOU send this to?
Keep this going clear up through the 2004 election!! We need to be heard!
When it comes to politics, I never believe anything until I have done a little research and formed an opinion of my own. So, I took one question and googled it.
The first link was this one. If you follow that link it takes you to a page hosted by the Social Security Administation entitled "Debunking Some Internet Myths."
My point here is not to rub it in my stepmother's face, or to prove that Democrats are right and Republicans are wrong. My point is that all one has to do is search the internet, carefully screen sources and take ownership of their beliefs.
I wrote back quite a pointed email to my stepmother too. Some may think I am acting disrespectfully to her, but I felt she would be ok with it. My response to her is below.
I googled one of your questions and I came up with these links:
http://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths.html
http://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths2.html
Yes, thats right, its the Social Security Administrations website.
I think this is somewhat ironic because as your email stated, "And the worst part about it is, uninformed citizens believe it!"
It seems that you are the one who is misinformed and simply spreading lies and spin. I try to stay neutral, but informed and I never believe anything until I have researched it. I strongly encourage you to do the same. Also, you should send this to whoever sent it to you and to everyone you forwarded it on to.
My advice for you dear reader in this election season is this: research, be informed, don't just listen to what the pundits and media are saying. HEAR what they are saying and then go out and find out if they are right. Question everything … until you know better.
Your comments did seem a little harsh to your stepmother, but I assume you would know what she would be okay with more than us, the average reader.
But I do commend you for researching this and not just taking it at face value. Too many people in this country base all of their decisions off of what they receive in junk mail like this, or what some celebrity says, or what the media says. We all need to think for ourselves and educate ourselves. You did a good job of making that point here.
Posted by: Jill at October 6, 2004 09:15 AM
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