Right-Wing e-mail on Social Security

[B Calm]

Dear Friends:

Many years ago in Seattle, two wonderful neighbors, Elliott and Patty Roosevelt came to my home to swim on a regular basis. They were a great couple full of laughter and stories that today I continue to marvel at. Both are now deceased, but their stories remain. During the years of our friendship we had many, many discussions about his parents (President Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt) and how his father and mother never intended for the Social Security and Welfare programs to turn out the way they are today. Elliott used to say that if his mother returned to earth and saw what the politicians had done to their programs she would have burned all of them in hell.

Here is a story I received today regarding the Social Security Program and I immediately thought of Elliott's comments. Hope you will read this and think about it.


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.

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Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

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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?

AND MY FAVORITE:

A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive 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!


If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. Maybe not, some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn't so.


But it's worth a try.
How many people can YOU send this to?

Actions speak louder than bumper stickers.

Please forward this E-mail to others so that they can be informed of the truth.

[pnorman]

1. I'm pretty sure that most (if not all) of those assertions

were refuted. It might be a tedious Google search, so i'll put it off for a while. If nobody else here on DU responds, I'll try this evening.

pnorman

[Brewman_Jax]

2. See Snopes

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/sschanges.asp

[B Calm]

5. Thanks!!!

[pnorman]

8. DANG!!

And I had a Snopes tab in my Firefox browser, and use it frequently!

The person who passed that on, may have done so in "good faith", but the originator of that tripe contrived it as a deliberate LIE. And THEY are the pompous bastards who prate on about "The decline of civility in public discourse"!!! FASCISTIC LYING RATS!!!

pnorman

[B Calm]

9. My right-wing Oklahoma uncle e-mailed it to me.. Still waiting

on his reply to the snopes link.. and I probably never will hear a reply..ha ha

[pnorman]

10. No, you most definitely WON'T!

But since he's your uncle, resist the urge to "rub it in". Prior to the conclusion of WW1, Oklahoma (like Kansas) had a very STRONG Populist tradition. It was largely the massive and brutal government repression that did it in. Google "green corn rebellion". Also check this link out: http://www.citizenalert.org/newsltr/summer2003corn.html

Sometimes, the ONLY thing that "saves" us is the blind and bull-headed arrogance of the enemy. And that describes this BushCo gang to a Tee. We're (almost) all in the same boat. Don't write ANYONE off without doing your best to turn them around. This is the most important "battle" anyone here has ever faced. Don't blow it!

pnorman
On edit: I noticed that "JOURNAL" was no longer greyed out, so I "clicked" on it. PRESTO! Now I ARE a journalist! (Gotta RTFM one day!!)

[Brewman_Jax]

13. SOP for freeper scum

it's the lies and hypocrisy that annoy me most. :grr:

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Snopes is our friend when it comes to verifying this type of email.

Look here:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/sschanges.asp

[NoAmericanTaliban]

4. I believe it was Reagan who raised the tax on SS

in order to cover the tax breaks he did in the mid-80s. It may be under him that the retirement age was increased as well. If the repukes don't like it then they shouldn't accept any money from SS.

[Dora]

6. Here's a little snip from Snopes....

No one — whether he be a citizen, immigrant, or illegal alien — is eligible to collect Social Security benefits unless he (or someone else, such as a parent or spouse) has paid into the system. Someone has confused Social Security itself with Supplemental Security Income (SSI) — the latter is a federal welfare program "designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income" by providing "cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter." Immigrants can qualify for SSI benefits under certain conditions, but SSI is financed by general revenues and not Social Security taxes. SSI was not enacted by the administration of President Jimmy Carter (a Democrat); it was created and signed into law in 1972, during the administration of President Richard Nixon (a Republican).

[madmom]

7. several months ago I had a running "argument" with a repug in

my area on just this topic thru letters to the editor of our daily rag. All these statements can be refuted by going to :

www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths.html

www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths2.html


read all they have to say and follow the links and you'll have all the ammo you need to call them on their lies.

[Rainscents]

11. This email went around few years ago!

Damn, it's making another around. :crazy: Make sure when sending email back to him, make sure you forward to all! That way every one he sent out chain emals to, they'll get yours too!

[B Calm]

12. The first thing I did was look at who he sent it too, and sent them an

e-mail link to Snopes.