SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR ALL.
GET A BILL STARTED TO PLACE ALL POLITICIANS ON SOCIAL SECURITY

I’ve had this in my future information pile for some time. Now, while we take a breather, while the Dems fire up our new Congress, take a moment to peruse this little piece of writing about Social Security. I didn’t realize just how outrageously out of order the situation is, and I kind of agree with the opinion expressed below.

PS: Photo—Mertie has a bite of lunch in the forests near the Washington coast.

[SNIP]
2008 Election Issue!! This must be an issue in "2008" Please! Keep it going.

SOCIAL SECURITY: Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions about social security during election years. Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it. You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago, they voted in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan.

For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die. Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. For example, Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two Dignitaries. Younger Dignitaries who retire an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00. NADA... ZILCH.

This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds: "OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK"!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into—every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer)—we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. That change would be to: Jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen . Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us, then sit back... and see how fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. How many people CAN you send this to?

Better yet.... How many people WILL you send this to?
[PASTE]

WISE GUY SPEAKS

“The neatest human balancing trick is to become sufficiently skeptical and realistic, scientific even, to resist superstitious hogwash while remaining also optimistic and attached to those who live gullible lives, that is, nearly the entire human race.” —George Thomas

AMERICAN PRIDE, BUSHWHACKED AGAIN

A couple of days ago I was reading about a man who was tortured in Buenos Aires for some disagreement with authorities. Over my many years, I’ve always had a nearly automatic thought that follows reading about torture in other countries. It is, “I’m so glad to be living in a country where authorities don’t torture people.” And I almost had that thought as I read about the Argentine citizen, but, then, quite forcefully, another thought swept into my brain. “Bush. Conservatives. Torture. Wait a minute, I can no longer pride myself on being an American. Bush has changed all that.” As they say, “My limbic system [heart] sank.”