From: Mark Duwe
Columbus
To continue the conversation on Social Security, I would like to add a couple of thoughts. The first thing I would like people to do is to read the obituaries every day and check to see how many Americans died who were in their 50s and early 60s. There is rarely a week that goes by that there aren’t two or three just in this local paper, so you can imagine how many men and women between 50 and 62 die in this country every year.
They have worked hard all of their lives, and the vast majority of them have had to pay into the Social Security system with the hope that one day they will get to retire and have a meager income to live on, a nice little apartment, walking to the mall, visiting with friends and just relaxing. No, they got to work their entire lives and pay into Social Security so the rest of us would have something to fall back on. They ran out of luck.
Now, every time you see that one of these hardworking Americans has passed away after paying in their fair share for 30 or 40 years, I want you also to think about all of the Americans who make more than $118,500 a year who get to have a cap on how much they pay into the system. The very-well-off are let out of participating in a system that requires that everyone participate for it to actually work.
This is absolutely true. Americans who make $12 million a year don’t have to pay any more into the Social Security system than people who make $120,000 a year. How can this happen? President Barack Obama wanted to change it but was blocked by the Republicans (no surprise there). If this cap were removed, Social Security would become much more viable for many more years to come. And if you’re young, you may not think you’re going to need it. Well, lots of people think they’re going to win the lottery, too. Even if you don’t need it, you are going to want it to still be available for those who do. Can you imagine what would happen if millions of elderly Americans suddenly had no income?
It wouldn’t be pretty. The problem is going to be actually getting Congress to change the law and remove the cap. There is only one candidate who is in favor of removing this cap on Social Security, and that is Bernie Sanders.
If you think Republicans care about your Social Security, you’re kidding yourselves. They’ve been trying to get rid of it for years, trading it for some investment schemes where your money would be subject to the whims of the market. Bad idea.
Do yourselves a favor one time and vote for someone who truly has your best interests at heart.
