DISHONORING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

EQUITY: the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality.

THE SAFETY NET
Johann Wagener 4-10-13

SOCIAL SECURITY; These 2 words say it all to millions of Americans who depend on it in order to just survive. These are not losers or freeloaders. These are people who worked hard all their lives and paid their taxes; including a payroll tax to fund the program we call Social Security.

Social Security recipients are not a drain on our economy. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Most of these people put 100% of the dollars they receive from Social Security benefits back into our economy. They don’t buy luxury items to feed their egos. They buy food. They buy gasoline. They pay mortgages on the homes they live in, not 3 or 4 summer homes and winter homes, and vacation homes.  

Most everything a Social Security recipient buys are staples; the basic necessities which include a premium paid to Medicare for their healthcare benefits. Practically everything they buy is taxed by local, state, or federal government which is used to pay for public services, our defense, and the politicians they help elect.

As meager the amount is ($15,000 a year) Social Security recipients are self-sufficient and continue to be productive citizens who contribute to society in many ways; much more than those who hoard and hide wealth, dodge taxes, and squander money recklessly without regard to society or the environment.

Social Security recipients did not create the debt crisis that grew the deficit to record highs. The people that created the deficit are those who hoard their wealth and dodge their taxes while at the same time putting additional stress on our economy by conning us into giving them tax money to bail them out of the mess they created.  

To make matters even worse they have taken these tax dollars and used them to enrich themselves even more which has decimated the middle class in this country. Yet, Social Security recipients are now being asked t

o sacrifice what little increase in income they receive to keep up with inflation to repay money used to bail out those that created the deficit. 

To this day there are CEO’s, bankers, hedge fund managers,Wall Street executives and the like who are being paid millions for having  literally destroyed the economy; as absurd as that may be. 

Taking one penny from someone living on $15,000 a year to pay off a debt created by people making that much in one hour is just plain wrong and immoral. To even suggest it should be considered a violation of human rights.

Social Security exists to protect the people that have paid into the fund in order to be self-sufficient in later years. It should not be used as a cookie jar for the rich, who don’t even pay into it, to tap into every time they mess things up.  

There is a simple message that President Obama and “honest” politicians need to send to the 1% ------- “you broke it, you bought it.” The time has come to pay up.

The President Offers to Cut Social Security and Republicans Agree