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| Posted By | Discussion Topic: Social Security | ||||
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| JackDan1974 | posted on 09-10-2001 @ 7:36 PM |    | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jul. 01  | Our Senators/Congressmen do not pay into Social Security, and, therefore they do not collect from it. Social Security benefits were not suitable for them. They felt they should have a special plan. Many years ago they voted in their benefit plan. In more recent years, no congress person 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 no matter how long they have been in office, they continue to draw their same pay until they die, except it may be increased from time to time by the cost-of-living adjustments. For example, former Senator Bill Bradley (New Jersey) and his wife may be expected to draw $7,900,000.00 over an average life span, with Mrs. Bradley drawing $275,000.00 during the last year of her life. Their cost for this excellent plan is "0," nada, zilch. This little perk they voted in for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. Our tax dollars at work! Social Security, which you and I pay into every payday for our own retirement, with an equal amount matched by our employer, we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month. Or, we would have to collect our benefits for 68 years and 1 month to equal the Bradley's benefits. Imagine for a moment that you could structure a retirement plan so desirable, a retirement plan that worked so well, that Railroad Employees, Postal Workers, and others who were not in the plan would clamor to be included. This is how good Social Security could be, if only one small change was made. That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan out from under the Senators/Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us. Watch how fast they fix it! If enough people receive this maybe a seed will be planted, and maybe good changes will evolve. Don't forget, our NY State girl, Hillary Rodham Clinton (thanks to the infinite wisdom of New York State voters) now comes under this Congressional Retirement Plan. Talking about the Clinton's, it's common knowledge that, in order for her to establish NYS residency, they purchased a million+ house in upscale Chappaqua, NY. Makes sense. Now, they are entitled to Secret Service protection for life. Still makes sense. Here is where it becomes interesting. A residency had to be built in order to house the Secret Service agents. The Clinton's now charge the Secret Service rent for the use of said residence and that rent is just about equal to their mortgage payment, meaning that we, the tax payers, are paying the Clinton's mortgage and it's all perfectly legal. You gotta luv it Can you believe this, someone E-mailed this to me I hope that it is just an Urban Legend. If it is true I am running for senate.  | ||||
| Shelle Bink True star of the celebrity softball game: the redhead in section 101. | posted on 09-10-2001 @ 7:46 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jul. 01 | can i marry you? WOWing Gets You Things... Listen To The PennyRoyals Being Bad Never Felt So Good | ||||
| Is Don on the phone? | posted on 09-10-2001 @ 7:55 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jan. 01 | From the Urban Legends Archive: Is it true? No and yes. No, members of Congress have paid Social Security deductions on their salaries since 1984. Yes, members of Congress do have generous pension fund financed by taxes. Why? Federal civilian employees, including members of Congress, were covered by Social Security by P.L. [Public Law] 98-21 in 1984. Members of Congress are also covered by a pension plan that may pay amounts substantially over their annual Congressional annual salaries, currently $133,600. Note that the figures cited in the email of lifetime benefits of $7,900,000 are incorrect. Long serving members of Congress can expect to draw upwards of $1,000,000 in benefits from the pension fund over their retirement. When? April 2000 Comments Typical of outrage emails, this email conflates several issues. To equate political reform, Social Security benefits and pension fund benefits is disingenuous. Many, if not all, reap or will reap the rewards of both Social Security and private retirement benefits. The specific claim that Congress has failed to reform Social Security because of their generous pension and lack of dependence on Social Security benefits is false because (a) Congress does pay into and receive benefits from Social Security and (b) Social Security reform generates intense political controversy and that controversy tends to cause reform to be easily deadlocked. Would Congress be more accountable or willing to reform if it didn't have a generous publicly financed pension fund? Maybe, maybe not, though the political apathy that has prevailed for decades gives little incentive for Congress to undertake large reforms. Should Congress have a pension bankrolled by taxpayers? It depends on your political leanings. If you consider service in Congress to be a privilege unworthy of lavish remuneration then a generous pension plan is not needed. If you think that serving in Congress is worthy of the same kind of compensation that a demanding job of great responsibility merits, a pension fund is not an unusual benefit. These political questions are beyond the Urban Legend Zeitgeist's powers to resolve. However, the Zeitgeist would observe that forwarding email has little effect on the world compared to writing or calling your elected officials and participating in the political process. The Zeitgeist votes, do you?  AIM:isdononthephone | ||||
| VooDude | posted on 09-10-2001 @ 7:55 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Aug. 01 | quote:Damn Shelle, political commentary turn you on that much ? ;) But seriously, I don't know how much of this is true, but you've got me interested, so I'm going to do a little research on it...
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| The Painter 1/2 a bottle of Jack Daniels... it's a cure-all | posted on 09-10-2001 @ 8:41 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Sep. 00 | Our law makers exempt themselves from alot of laws they pass. Especially those laws involving business and labor. | ||||
| Tequila Fez claims this land in the name of Portugal! Why worry about the train if it never makes it around the tracks?? IrishAlkey wuz here!!! | posted on 09-10-2001 @ 9:19 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Jan. 01 | I thought this was a donation thread for O&A swallow Damn misleading threads;)  AOL/AIM - oanda1027fm | ||||
Displaying 1-6 of 6 messages in this thread. |