Social Security for US Politicians?

SOCIAL SECURITY:

(This is worth reading. It is short and to the point.)

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions 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 at 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
B! radley'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.



[edit on 14-3-2006 by undo]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think posting chain letters on ATS is allowed.

Personally, I don't think chain letters are worth the time it takes to forward it to anyone.

Now if you want to create a thread dealing with the issues brought up in the letter, you might have something.

Okay removed the traces that it was an email to my husband through the military network.

To me this is more than a chain letter; it is also a social/political commentary on our elected officials. It is also informative as to their
status in the retirement milieu compared to the rest of the US citizens.

I for one am tired of elected officials granting themselves pay raises, retirement benefits and health plans at the expense of taxpayers.

I had a conversation with Congressman Mike Pence R-Indiana about this within the last year. He says that he has investigated it and that it is false. He offered to show proof via his check stub that he gets, showing that he pays into FICA.

However, he did say that there a few (less than 10) that ARE under the program mentioned because of their years on the hill.

You can look at SNOPES and it has this listed as being false also.

JDub

[edit on 14-3-2006 by BlueTileSpook]

Originally posted by BlueTileSpook
I had a conversation with Congressman Mike Pence R-Indiana about this within the last year. He says that he has investigated it and that it is false. He offered to show proof via his check stub that he gets, showing that he pays into FICA.

However, he did say that there a few (less than 10) that ARE under the program mentioned because of their years on the hill.

You can look at SNOPES and it has this listed as being false also.

JDub

[edit on 14-3-2006 by BlueTileSpook]

Will pass it on after I investigate your reference.

Originally posted by undo
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 has been floating around for a few years and, the last time I checked, Senator Byrd was still earning his paycheck the old fashion way. Well, depending on how you look at Congress, anyway.

[edit on 2006/3/14 by GradyPhilpott]

This is FALSE. Check Snopes.

Whenever you get something like this, please check Snopes to confirm it's true before posting.

www.snopes.com...

Snopes actually goes to lenghty detail to say that congress/senate do get a boosted retirement...

2-3 times what a private sector CEO gets...

why, because we pay for it... thats why...

It doesn't have to be FULL pay to piss me off... 80% does me just fine...

How bout we tell them to make sure we get a 80% pay security UNTIL WE DIE... and I'll be happy...

Boy howdy... so many ATSers fell for that Snopes mislead... dont ya think congress calls favors once in a while...

to all those that pointed to Snopes... read the article again... and the references...
they tell the true story...

Too bad the e-mail just exagerrated... makes most miss the fact that the truth it still bad..

Yes, I was having trouble getting the Snopes article to fit.

Eighty percent is ALOT. They make the military members, that they use as medical guinea pigs and target practice dummies, take a fifty percent cut in income when they retire and they take away all their added benefits with the exception of medical and dental, which is quickly going the way of the dinosaur as well. .

As Naom Chomsky put it, Capatalism for the poor, Socialism for the rich.

Originally posted by rizla
As Naom Chomsky put it, Capatalism for the poor, Socialism for the rich.

Sorta like an oligarchy?

According to Wikipedia: Oligarchy is a political regime where most or all political power effectively rests with a small segment of society (typically the most powerful, whether by wealth, family, military strength, ruthlessness, or political influence). The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" (oligo) and "rule" (arkhos). Some political theorists have argued that all governments are inevitably oligarchies no matter the supposed political system.