A point or two of clarification!

By Joseph Walther

Two things came up in conversation over this past week. First, two relatively young political opposites became rather vocal and animated over the state of Social Security in this country.

The other one involved a very close friend of mine relative to her agreement with Michelle Obama’s assessment of most Americans’ diminishing quality of life over the past 40- to 45-years.

Relative to the Social Security issue above, the two men discussing it could not have been older than about twenty-five. One was an “arch” Conservative in favor of doing away with Social Security altogether.

The other one was an unapologetic Liberal who absolutely blamed the Bush Administration for trying to destroy peoples’ lives by privatizing the system.

There were two major problems with their relative positions. One, neither knew what he was talking about. Not a clue! Not even close. And two, both positions raged on in a seemingly mindless state of emotional investment overload.

First, the Conservatives have to stop advocating the privatization of the system. It’s not going to happen nor does it need to happen. Second, the Liberals need to stop demonizing the Conservatives as the ones attempting to destroy lives relative to Social Security retirement benefits.

A Democrat by the name of Franklin D. Roosevelt began Social Security. We have him to thank for that FICA withholding each pay period, which is huge now compared to what it was back then.

Participation in the program was voluntary and included withholding of 1% of the first $1,400 of employees’ annual incomes. Participants were able to deduct the payment amount as an income tax deduction each year.

The government would place the money into a REAL “trust” fund, not the general fund. Washington would use the money to pay Social Security retirement payments and NOTHING else. And, the recipients of retirement benefits would NOT have to pay taxes on what they received.

Today, the program is INVOLUNTARY. The effective Social Security earnings have risen to $102,000 and the tax is now 12.4% of an employee’s income—half paid by the employee and the other half paid by the employer.

While the Bush Administration has advocated privatizing part of the system, neither George W. Bush nor the Republican Party has brought about the changes in the system that have caused the funding problems we face today.

Lyndon Johnson and the Democrats eliminated the Social Security “trust” fund and began placing FICA withholdings into the “general” fund. Guess where a large portion of that “pork” money comes.

You know… the money that sends Congress into its annual spending frenzy each year. And, worse yet, even with the extra money, this crowd still spends more than it takes in.

This same crowd—without Johnson—eliminated the tax deduction for FICA withholding, too.

And, we have Al Gore to thank, as Vice President under Bill Clinton, for the fact that we now pay taxes on our Social Security benefit payments. He’s the one who cast the tie-breaking vote in the United States Senate.

Finally, thanks to Jimmy Carter and his band of merry Liberals, immigrants, many who have never paid a dime into the system, now draw Social Security benefits.

I’m a Conservative. But, I’m not a fan of George W. Bush. Even though I voted for him twice, he’s been one of the biggest regrets in my voting life. Mea culpa! Oh my God, mea MAXIMA culpa.

No matter, though, the man has had nothing to do with our Social Security mess. His proposed solution to the problem, on the other hand, is every bit as knee-jerk as everything else he’s done!

I don’t favor privatizing the system in any way. Just return it to a voluntary status, restore the tax breaks—at both ends—and reinstate the “trust” fund to keep the money out of the hands of the porkers!

FDR and his Congress did not intend for Social Security to become a stand-alone retirement program. However, the government didn’t stop providing pension plans for workers. The private sector did—at least the bulk of the small to medium sized ones did.

If we go back to the original plan of Social Security, including the original rules—modified in terms of the income cap, employees would be able to afford to pay into some sort of “primary” pension savings. The tax breaks would provide the means.

Of course, for those who opt not to participate, they’d be on their own when retirement time comes around. All we’d have to do is enforce it!

Now, about Michelle Obama’s position on the worsening plight of average Americans since 1964...

Her exact words, according to George Will, were; “…most Americans’ lives have gotten progressively worse since I was a little girl.” My good friend, Shirley, agrees with Michelle Obama, as she puts it, “150%!”

But, I don’t… not even a teensy weensy bit! I don’t know where she (Michelle Obama) has been, but her assessment is so far off mark, it worries me in terms of her potential as the nation’s “First Lady.”

Since the mid-sixties, when Michelle Obama was growing up, some marvelous things have happened. A few things have gotten worse, but most of it has been great news.

Per capita income has risen close to 150% since then. We’re living longer by almost 8-years. Fewer—a lot fewer… about 76% less—babies are dying during childbirth. Heart disease, while still the number one killer, is only about half the rate that it was back then.

When I was in 4^th-grade, my friend, Roger Coyne died from childhood leukemia within 6-months of his throwing up all over our 4^th-grade classroom floor—the first indication that something may have been wrong.

This does not happen anymore—most kids don’t die from this now. Many other childhood diseases don’t kill kids any longer, either.

The list of good things that have changed for the better most significantly outweighs the list of bad things that are still the same or that have become worse since Michelle Obama was a “little” girl.

I’m not going to list them all here. Suffice it to say, though, that we’ve seen vast improvements across the scale of human endeavors. While we still have a long way to go in terms of racial, gender, and sexual orientation equality, we’ve not been sitting around doing nothing.

The point is that this has occurred despite political windbaggery gone wild. None of the current cable talking heads—O’Reilly, Hannity, Colms, Blitzer, Olbermann, Larry King, or Limbaugh—have had a thing to do with it, either.

Facts supporting the idea that things are better for the majority of us in 2008 as opposed to 1964 abound. So, until Michelle Obama decides to clarify her claims, I’ll remain optimistic.

I don’t hold her husband responsible for what SHE says, though. He seems much more hopeful. If he can actually “unite” this country politically, in a positive way, I’d be a fool to vote for McCain.

McCain’s been around for the last 35-years and hasn’t done a thing that he claims that he’ll do if we put him in the Oval Office. In fact, he’s done the exact opposite close to 80% of the time. The Congressional Record verifies this. Old habits are hard to break!

I’ll be back next week. Stay safe. In the meantime, to the two young men that were arguing about Social Security, people—meaning ME—will think you a lot less foolish if you check facts before blindly supporting or condemning a position.

This is especially important to remember when you are so young that both retirement and natural death are nothing but distant, barely audible rumors in your young lives.

As for my good friend, Shirley, Michelle has either missed a lot since the mid-‘60s, or I’ve been having some unbelievably optimistic dreams.

Joe Walther is a freelance writer and publisher of The True Facts. You may comment on his column by clicking here.