Enough is enough. For the last several months I have received emails from hundreds of people either praising me or vilifying me with language not fit for polite company. With the quantity of trash talk we currently have in the movies and on television, you can tell I’m no spring chicken.
The fact is, I do not deserve either praise nor vilification. A number of months ago I received a copy of The History of Social Security, glanced at it and sent it to a couple of friends for their comments. One responded saying there were some errors in the piece. I thought that was the end of it.
A month or two later I started receiving emails from people all over the country. Someone had made me the author of the piece and along with my picture, posted it on the internet. Some thought the piece was great, but most chastised me severely saying “How can a gifted education writer be so stupid”, and that was one of the more civil comments, if you get my drift.
I have tried to refute the writing of the piece on the internet, but it seems to have taken on a life of its own. The last time I Googled “Dick Kantenberger, Social Security” I got over 10 pages. So it is what it is. You just have to question everything you read on the internet. I have tried to respond personally to every message I received; hopefully I did not miss anybody.
I recently received an email from a retired Professor in western Montana, certainly one of my favorites parts of the country. I won’t give her name because this came in a private message. She too had some questions and sent the article to her tax attorney for comment, and he or she graciously responded with concise answers. I will give you these answers at the end of this article.
At the risk of spreading the original article further, I am reprinting it here just to give context to this.
History Lesson on Your Social Security Card
Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn't know this.
It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it. Be sure and show it to your family
And friends. They need a little history lesson on what's what and it doesn't matter
Whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are Facts.
Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and
card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the
United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the
message, NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION, was removed.
<http://blog.kir.com/archives/images/social+security.gif>
An old Social Security card with the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message.
Our Social Security
Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social
Security (FICA) Program. He promised:
1.) That participation in the Program would be
Completely voluntary,
No longer Voluntary
2.) That the participants would only have to pay
1% of the first $1,400 of their annual
Incomes into the Program,
Now 7.65%
on the first $90,000
3.) That the money the participants elected to put
into the Program would be deductible from
their income for tax purposes each year,
No longer tax deductible
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,
Under Johnson the money was moved to
The General Fund and Spent
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed
as income.
Under Clinton & Gore
Up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed
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 US
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
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 violating 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 changes will
evolve.
But it's worth a try.
How many people can YOU send this to?
Actions speak louder than bumper stickers
Just to clear the matter up, here are the comments from the tax attorney:
1. FDR never promised that SS would be voluntary. Every worker was included with some exceptions, such as state and local employees, domestics, and employees of tax-exempt organizations.
2. The initial tax (lasting for the first 13 years) was 1% of the first $3,000 of wages (paid by both EE and ER). FDR never guaranteed that the tax or the wage base would never go up. Obviously both have because they proved so inadequate to pay benefits. The SS tax now is 6.2% (the balance of the 7.65% is Medicare and Disability Income) on the first $106,800, which adjusts annually for COLAs.
3. The SS taxes paid by employees never was deductible. The tax paid by employers always has been deductible.
4. The SS taxes always have been designated for the SS Trust Fund. But the funds always could be borrowed by the Fed government, which deposited promissory notes for the loans. I'll forward you an interesting oped today about the right of the Fed govt to spend that money. But the money never has been "transferred" from the SS Trust Fund to the "General Fund." It just has been borrowed and spent, with IOUs.
5. FDR never promised that forever the SS benefits never would be taxed. They weren't taxed until reforms beginning the early 1980s, when the benefit structure threatened to collapse. These reforms were proposed by the Alan Greenspan Commission--a Republican--and while approved by a Democratic Congress (I think), Reagan signed on. Today, most beneficiaries continue to receive the payments tax-free. But a lot of us pay a tax on up to 85% of our benefits. The 85% figure assumes that the value of what we receive is partly attributed to our own contributions but mainly to employer contributions plus the increases in value compared to what we actually put it.
6. No "Political Party" took SS from the SS Trust Fund and put it in the general fund, because this never has been done.
7. No SS payments are "given" to immigrants. They must earn them through tax payments, like all of us. Your pal is probably confusing some welfare benefits.
Hope this helps.
Enjoy this article? Receive e-mail alerts when new articles are available. Just click on the “Subscribe” button at the top of this article.
Dick Kantenberger
Gifted Education Writer
Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/x-11062-Houston-Gifted-Education-Examiner
http://rfkantenberger.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dickkantenberger
http://www.facebook.com/dick.kantenberger
http://twitter.com/kantenberger
dick.kantenberger@sbcglobal.net
(713) 206-9343
Comments