Social Security benefits are being threatened, demand action now

Every working citizen should understand the following facts about Social Security:

Social Security has neither cost the government one penny, nor added one penny to the national debt. It is self-funded through the FICA.

The vast majority, about 96 percent, of working Americans pay between 7 percent to 8 percent of every dollar earned into Social Security.

Each month, the government sends recipients a check, and there is always a surplus left over. In 1986, Congress passed a bill that has been called “the greatest heist in history.” It allows the government to take (steal) the surplus Social Security money and place it in the so-called General Fund.

After 30 years, the government now owes Social Security $2.4 trillion, which it cannot, and will not, repay. Yet politicians talk about Social Security going broke and needing “reforms.” Simply translated, the reforms will mean recipients will receive fewer benefits, and there will be a larger surplus for the government to steal and place in the General Fund each month.

No politician, from either party, dares talk about this and will not explain it to all working people of the country. Imagine if you had started working in 1986 and each payday had put 7 percent of your earnings into a safety deposit box and in 2016, after working 30 years, you decide to retire. You go to the bank to find your safety deposit box is empty and you are told the bank had to use it to pay operating expenses. This is basically what the government has been doing with the money paid in by working people for the past 30 years who think they will be able to receive a Social Security benefit upon retiring.

Working Americans, regardless of party, must revolt and demand an end to the “theft” and demand the repayment of the $2.4 trillion that has been stolen over the past 30 years.

Recipients of Social Security often blame the president when they don’t receive an increase in their check, or COLA, for the coming year. The president has nothing to do with this. The formula for calculating if a COLA, or cost of living increase, will be given was established in the mid 1970s and is based upon the increase in the cost of certain consumer goods from one year to the next.

Working Americans must demand an explanation, and change, in that formula. It is not a Democrat or Republican issue, but an issue affecting allL working Americans. In 2017, a worker will pay Social Security on every dollar until he reaches $127,000 dollars of income. One only has to imagine how many millions of working Americans never come close to earning this amount of money. The super-rich should pay 7 percent of every dollar - just as the masses must.

It is imperative that all working class citizens understand the above and demand change. Discuss it with everyone. Write letters. Make phone calls. Cease to be silent. Working people have earned this money. It is theirs - it is not an “entitlement.”

The writer lives in Calabash, North Carolina.

This story was originally published December 31, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Social Security benefits are being threatened, demand action now."