Today I read in the Albuquerque Journal that, unless Congress acts quickly, disabled Americans will experience a 19% reduction in their disability benefits in 2016. This is a huge cut in an income that is already too sparse to meet all the needs of the disabled, whose medical expenses (including assistive devices and over-the-counter aids) are typically much higher than the average person.
In addition to this possible cut, two things are in the pipeline to happen for Social Security recipients in 2016:
(1) Medicare premiums will rise by at least $54.00 per month (for some recipients); and,
(2) NO cost-of-living increase will be given to anyone.
What does this mean for me personally? If the cut goes into effect, I will be receiving $304 a month less than I did in 2015. (I am not in line for the steep increase to my Medicare premium, I am told, because my income is too low.) Even so, I am in danger of losing almost a quarter of my entire income! Already, I don't have enough money to meet my needs. I have two friends helping me with food and other necessaries, when they are able. I have NO luxuries. No television. No travel. No alcohol, drug or tobacco use.
I worked for more than 30 years and had no idea that the Social Security fund I paid into for all those years would yield such a poor return that it would plunge me into poverty. Of course, I had no idea I would become disabled, either. No one does. One would think that Social Security would at least provide the basics of life; food, shelter, medical needs, transportation, clothing, etc. etc., but it doesn't.
The Journal article (link below) mentions that Rand Paul, in typical fashion, is maligning the disabled by saying that a lot of us are "slackers." It is a horrible slur to make about a vulnerable class of people, a slur that is both untrue and unchristian. Having endured the circus of obtaining disability benefits, I can tell you that it isn't easy. You can't just get a doctor to send a note to Social Security saying that you are disabled! Social Security has their OWN doctors who have a vested interest in ferreting out fakers. Just as in any group of people, you WILL find liars and cheats in a tiny percentage. Politicians like Rand Paul inflate a tiny issue and brandish it vigorously in our faces so they can bamboozle with bologna. Casting aspersions on the character of the disabled is just another ploy to protect the millionaires from having to pay their fair share.
Lackeys of the Koch Brothers and other billionaires are feeding us this line of crap about how Social Security is going broke because of the poor, the disabled, the elderly, the immigrants. It is a HUGE lie.
With all this chatter about Social Security and how broke it is, there is almost no mention whatsoever of the most glaringly obvious "fix" for the problem. At the moment, individuals only pay Social Security tax on their first $110,100 in income (some sites say $106,800.) This is called the "cap" on Social Security tax.
What this means in practical terms is that the wealthy pay less than a tiny fraction of a percentage of their income into Social Security while the wage earner typically pays 4.2% (or about 8% if self-employed.) This is not equitable, particularly since Social Security is not a "needs based" program. Wealthy people have no qualms about taking their full Social Security benefits when they reach the retirement age, so why not pay the same percentage into it as we do?
If we removed the cap on Social Security contributions, we would have enough Social Security funds to last until the sun burns out. Why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we even TALKING about it?
The government is too busy trying to daze us with smoke and mirrors. Just as in THE WIZARD OF OZ, there is a guy behind the curtain pulling all the levers and pushing all the buttons that make the smoke billow into the air.
The bloated, gaseous guy behind the curtain is the billionaire "wizard" who donates millions of dollars into superpacs to elect political candidates that will do his bidding. He and his cronies do not want to pay their fair share into the system, so they pay their glorified go-fers to generate a flurry of misinformation into the atmosphere that pumps up the issue with lies and then blames the problems on the poor, the disabled, the elderly and the illegal alien...anyone but the real culprits - the wealthy who are gaining unjust enrichment at the expense of the poor.
Preferential treatment of the rich was not the original intention of our tax system. On the Vanderbuilt University website, I learned that:
"When our income tax system started, it was supposed to
be a tax on success," said Beverly Moran, a professor of
law and sociology and a leading tax scholar. "Only 2
percent of people in the country were ever supposed to
file, and only 1 percent were supposed to pay."
http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/03/four-ways-to-improve-u-s-tax-system/
"1. Integrate the taxes on gifts, estates, income, corporations and shareholder-level income into one overall tax, int he process eliminating loopholes used by wealthy people to avoid paying taxes.
2. Equalize the tax rates between ordinary income and capital against income, instead of taxing capital gains at a lower rate.
3. Remove the cap on Social Security taxes, so that high-income people continue to pay the tax on all their income.
4. Decrease pressure on the IRS to audit poor people."
It is WELL PAST TIME that we open a few windows and clear the air. The horrific disparity of income between the top and the bottom of the socio economic field has been accomplished by bestowing unreasonable tax breaks on the rich. Meanwhile, the wages of the working man have stalled since the early 1970's. Lately, the oppression of the poor, elderly, and disabled and the slander against them is a national shame, and a humiliating nightmare for the poor, especially those who spent many years contributing to society, working, and paying into a culture that now spreads hateful lies about them.
I don't know what to do, other than write this blog, but who knows how long I can continue to do it, given that my income may be cut by almost 25% in a few short months. That would be convenient for the wealthy cheats. The fewer poor people with access to the internet, the better for that wizard behind the curtain. He can continue blowing all that hot air and smoke up your noses.
Silver Rose Parnell
(c) 2015
Pertinent Links:
Report: Social Security disability fund to run dry next year
Petition to remove the cap on Social Security contributions
Top ten lies about Social Security
Four ways to improve the U.S. Tax System - Vanderbuilt University
Robert Reich, Economist - the case for expanding Social Security
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
Alliance for Retired Americans
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