I am outraged that the Republican candidates for President are calling for the end of Social Security and the unraveling of the entire social safety net. Governor Rick Perry had the nerve to call it a "Ponzi scheme" and Herman Cain is now calling for the complete and total abolition of Social Security. Cain thinks that people's retirement should be funded by charities and churches. Seriously? My church could in no way provide for all of the retirees in our congregation. Charities? Most of the ones I know of right now are struggling to stay afloat in this difficult economy. Well, it's a known fact that for the past 70 years the GOP has hated the social safety net and would much rather that people pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Their perception is that anyone who doesn't have a job and isn't rich is in that situation because it's their own fault. Well, I have a job, have for the past 28 years, I am not rich, never will be because I am a public sector employee and haven't had so much as a dime's raise in 6 years. You don't go into public service to get rich, you go into it because the retirement benefits are a bit more generous than in the private sector. We public employees give up salary so that we can have a slightly more generous retirement. Now, I'm not paying into Social Security so I will not receive it, but that in no way suggests that I do not support it. On the contrary, I do support it because it is the source of my mom's retirement income and it also supported our family after our dad died 50 years ago and helped to pay for all of our college educations, so I am a big supporter of the social safety net that kept my family out of poverty when our breadwinner died so many decades ago. I just wish that people would stop calling Social Security and Medicare an "entitlement", as if benefitting from those things is somehow greedy. No, people paid into those things and should receive those benefits when they retire because it's a bit like a retirement savings account that employers and employees pay into while a person is working. I wish people would quit using that word with a tone of contempt as if somehow ordinary folks like me aren't allowed to receive any sort of benefit package when we retire. It's because the people currently in power are the generation that came up during the "Me" generation. They have forgotten the idea that we once lived in a society that valued shared sacrifice and the greater good. Now it's all me, me, me and screw your neighbor. And damn your neighbor for having the gall to want Social Security and Medicare when he retires. He should just go down to his church and hope and pray that the congregation has enough money to pay for his retirement and medical bills. Yeah, right. What church out there realistically can support all of its retirees when most churches I know have tight budgets due to thin collection plates lately. I know my church perpetually walks a financial tightrope and we've quadrupled our membership in the past 15 or so years. So I can't imagine even smaller churches trying to support their retirees. However, I think that the American people are too attached to their Social Security to where if a President attempted to abolish it, well, you think that the Occupy Wall Street movement is an expression of national angst, you ain't seen nothin' yet. If businessman Herman Cain were to somehow win the Presidency and then try to abolish Social Security, he's hear such a hue and cry as to cause the Occupy Wall Street movement to look like small potatoes. Social Security is one of those sacred cows that people will not tolerate doing without. So I am confident that the American people will not let Washington get away with unraveling even more of the social safety net than has already been undone. I just hope that I am right about this, especially since I am due to retire in a few years, and there are some folks who also want to do away with public pensions as well. I am grateful that the Occupy Wall Street movement is taking off and growing with every passing day and week. My church is taking up the issue next week and I am excited that our minister is jumping on the Occupy bandwagon. I couldn't be happier about this!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
It's not an "entitlement" or a Ponzi scheme
I am outraged that the Republican candidates for President are calling for the end of Social Security and the unraveling of the entire social safety net. Governor Rick Perry had the nerve to call it a "Ponzi scheme" and Herman Cain is now calling for the complete and total abolition of Social Security. Cain thinks that people's retirement should be funded by charities and churches. Seriously? My church could in no way provide for all of the retirees in our congregation. Charities? Most of the ones I know of right now are struggling to stay afloat in this difficult economy. Well, it's a known fact that for the past 70 years the GOP has hated the social safety net and would much rather that people pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Their perception is that anyone who doesn't have a job and isn't rich is in that situation because it's their own fault. Well, I have a job, have for the past 28 years, I am not rich, never will be because I am a public sector employee and haven't had so much as a dime's raise in 6 years. You don't go into public service to get rich, you go into it because the retirement benefits are a bit more generous than in the private sector. We public employees give up salary so that we can have a slightly more generous retirement. Now, I'm not paying into Social Security so I will not receive it, but that in no way suggests that I do not support it. On the contrary, I do support it because it is the source of my mom's retirement income and it also supported our family after our dad died 50 years ago and helped to pay for all of our college educations, so I am a big supporter of the social safety net that kept my family out of poverty when our breadwinner died so many decades ago. I just wish that people would stop calling Social Security and Medicare an "entitlement", as if benefitting from those things is somehow greedy. No, people paid into those things and should receive those benefits when they retire because it's a bit like a retirement savings account that employers and employees pay into while a person is working. I wish people would quit using that word with a tone of contempt as if somehow ordinary folks like me aren't allowed to receive any sort of benefit package when we retire. It's because the people currently in power are the generation that came up during the "Me" generation. They have forgotten the idea that we once lived in a society that valued shared sacrifice and the greater good. Now it's all me, me, me and screw your neighbor. And damn your neighbor for having the gall to want Social Security and Medicare when he retires. He should just go down to his church and hope and pray that the congregation has enough money to pay for his retirement and medical bills. Yeah, right. What church out there realistically can support all of its retirees when most churches I know have tight budgets due to thin collection plates lately. I know my church perpetually walks a financial tightrope and we've quadrupled our membership in the past 15 or so years. So I can't imagine even smaller churches trying to support their retirees. However, I think that the American people are too attached to their Social Security to where if a President attempted to abolish it, well, you think that the Occupy Wall Street movement is an expression of national angst, you ain't seen nothin' yet. If businessman Herman Cain were to somehow win the Presidency and then try to abolish Social Security, he's hear such a hue and cry as to cause the Occupy Wall Street movement to look like small potatoes. Social Security is one of those sacred cows that people will not tolerate doing without. So I am confident that the American people will not let Washington get away with unraveling even more of the social safety net than has already been undone. I just hope that I am right about this, especially since I am due to retire in a few years, and there are some folks who also want to do away with public pensions as well. I am grateful that the Occupy Wall Street movement is taking off and growing with every passing day and week. My church is taking up the issue next week and I am excited that our minister is jumping on the Occupy bandwagon. I couldn't be happier about this!
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