MILKING THE SYSTEM

Chart showing distribution of entitlement benefits from data obtained

from:

the Office of Management and Budget,

The U.S. Department of Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

The U.S. Department of Labor

and

The U.S. Census Bureau

It seems like every time we approach a new election period, unscrupulous politicians start belittling the poor and claiming that there is "massive fraud in the Welfare system" and that the poor are "milking the system." They actually have the nerve to blame the poor for the awful economy and perpetuate the myth that we are all living the life of luxury. Social Security payments, for those who worked enough to qualify, average $1,000 a month. Supplemental Security is a maximum of $560 a month.

The first thing I point out to anyone who will listen is that less than 3% of all entitlement monies that are paid out are given to able-bodied people who choose not to work, yet the entire demographic of poor people is painted with the idea that there are massive numbers of criminals who have managed to scam their way into "the system" and are getting rich. There is absolutely no proof of this, of course, but who needs proof when people are so ready to buy this rotten lie? Selfish people want to believe this because it justifies their reluctance to help the poor that they deem undeserving.

This readiness to believe these wild claims against the poor and to use them as justification for reducing or eliminating assistance is the antithesis of the Christian message.

Jesus says: "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your coat as well."

Matthew 5:40

Notice that he DOESN'T say to fight like the Devil to keep him from getting your coat, nor does he say that you should make sure that the person is deserving of your shirt or your coat. This particular quote is about one's enemy.  How much more giving does Jesus expect us to be when it comes to His beloved poor?  The Bible is full of references to our expected generosity toward the poor:

In Deuteronomy 15, it says, "Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

In Mark 10, when the rich man asks Jesus what he must do to follow Him, Jesus says, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

In Luke 6, He says, "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."

Again, in Mark 10, He says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Notice that, in our sinful world, it is the rich person who is given great credit and adulation, who is served and fawned upon. The rich feel superior because of this and look down upon the poor, making them squirm and cry for every pittance. The rich are loathe to give any of their riches to the poor, but instead take the money from the labors of the poor.

In Proverbs 19, we read, "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed."  The Lord is watching how we treat the poor and will treat us with the same generosity we exhibit toward them.

In Matthew 25, we are told, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  When we defame the poor, we defame Jesus.  When we help to supply the needs of the poor, we are supplying Jesus with what He needs.

In Luke 3, He says, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise."

In Luke 12, He admonishes his followers to "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions," telling them once more that the Christian life is not about how much riches one can retain.

In Proverbs 21, we learn that, "He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered."  Enlightened self-interest would be enough to encourage us to respond to the poor with compassionate kindness and to supply their need, what to speak of Christian charity and love!

Instead of listening to politicians who have their own agendas, we need to look to the Bible and to the Catholic faith for guidance in this matter of how we treat the poor.

As far as the rumors of "massive fraud" by the poor, that has not been proved.  There are, however, criminals in every walk of life. The only difference between the rich criminals and the poor ones is that the rich steal MORE from us than the poor ever could. .It is ludicrous to punish 97% of the poor people because some of the remaining 3% might be dishonest!

Catholics, take note:  Here is the official position of the Catholic Church with regard to the government's care for the poor:

"The function of the rulers of the state,

moreover, is to watch over the community 

and its parts; but in protecting private

individuals in their rights, chief considera-

tion ought to be given to the weak and 

the poor.  "For the nation, as it were, of

the rich is guarded by its own defenses

and is in less need of governmental protection,

whereas the suffering multitude, without the

means to protect itself, relies especially on the

protection of the State.  Wherefore, since

wageworkers are numbered among the great mass

of the needy, the State must include them under

its special care and foresight."

Quadragesimo anno Encyclical on

Reconstruction of the Social Order

His Holiness Pope Pius XI

May 15, 1931

Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about the poor:

2446 "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal

from them and deprive them of life.  The goods we possess are

not ours, but theirs.  The demands of justice must be satisfied

first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered

as a gift of charity." ... "When we attend to the needs of those in

want, we give them what is theirs, not ours.  More than performing

works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice."

Note: "The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." We do not have the right to make these poor people jump through hoops and perform some dog-and-pony show to prove that they are worthy of receiving what is already theirs to begin with!

If you decide to spread the gospel of the greedy politician and help him to spread scandal and lies about the poor, then you are free to do so.  This is America.  But know, when you do that, you are stepping away from the Christian faith and into another world.

Silver Rose Parnell

(c) 2015
All rights reserved.

DISABLED AMERICANS BAMBOOZLED BY SMOKE AND MIRRORS

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/

Vanderbilt Research agrees that the cap on Social Security taxes should be lifted and that 3 other measures should be taken.  Here is their list:

"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