"Todays hearing illustrates a basic question of right and wrong. Social Security has never contributed a dime to the nations $14.3 trillion debtnot one penny to our federal budget deficit this year or any year in our nations history. Yet some in this town insist that we should cut Social Security benefits for seniors to pay for these deficits deficits run up over the last ten years principally as a consequence of fighting two unpaid-for wars and giving unpaid-for tax cuts to millionaires. Most Americans would say it is immoral and un-American to ask Congress to tax Peter to pay for Pauls sins to make retirees, widows, disabled workers, and children who rely on Social Security to pay for the Bush debt. How can that be right?

Heres the simple truth. Today, Social Security has over $2.6 trillion in its Trust Fund, entirely generated by worker contributions. Over its lifetime, Social Security has earned $14.6 trillion and only spent $12.0 trillion. Do the math."

Ok, we all know that Social Security and Medicare come out of separate taxes on our paycheck.  They are not a part of the deficit.  They are something we pay for.  Why then are Obama and the Republicans so keen on cutting Social Security and Medicare to "reduce the deficit?"  It's a completely separate fund and is supplied by money taken from our paychecks, not from income tax.

Most of the Congressmen and Senators are millionaires or billionaires.  They're out of touch with the needs of the American people.  Is this why they want to rob Americans of the money they paid in?  They can certainly get by without Medicare and Social Security, or even insurance for that matter.

Although Obama put a freeze on pay hikes for government employees, their pay is frozen at a high level.  They were keen on raising their salaries at every given opportunity in the years before the freeze even though the income of the average American was dropping.  Even without their government salaries they can well afford to house, feed, clothe their families and provide health care when needed.  Still, they try to rob the fund that provides for those who have worked and paid into the program.  Why are they doing this?  It's certainly not to create jobs.  In fact, it will probably reduce jobs since they won't need secretaries to enter the payroll figures into a program to calculate Social Security withholding.  Is this really in America's best interest?

People were sold the line that tax breaks for the rich would create jobs, yet I turn on the news and see that more and more corporations are laying off and downsizing.  Hasn't anyone else noticed this?

You often hear people saying "get a job," but how likely is it that a person can actually get a job when there are not a sufficient number of jobs available.  Though the ratio of applicants to workers is stated as 5 to 1, it is much more serious than this.

"Suppose there is a world with 250 unemployed workers and 50 job openings. If every person applies for every job, each job will get 250 applications.

In this scenario, an individual has a 1-in-250 chance of getting one particular job, but a 1-in-5 chance of getting any one of those 50 jobs that month, says Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, which has been publishing this statistic for years."

Now, everyone doesn't apply for every job.  Some jobs require special degrees or other training that not everyone can afford to go to school to get.  Still, jobs are getting more applicants than they can handle.

"Part of the reason employers are getting hundreds of applicants is "because it's so easy to apply over the Internet. People are desperate, so they press send and apply to any job that seems remotely close," says Abby Snay, executive director of Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco.

"'We're hearing that companies are just overwhelmed by the number of resumes they get, sometimes to the point where they say we won't post online and we'll use word of mouth to recruit. Everyone knows someone looking for work,' Snay says."

People who have to rely solely on Social Security and Medicare spend all of their check in order to survive.  This stimulates the economy.  How is cutting Social Security and Medicare going to affect the economy?  Do I have to spell it out for you?  People who actually spend their income, which they paid for, by the way, having less to spend is going to hurt the economy. 

With the price of food, utilities, and housing going up, they won't be able to spend on things that many of you would consider necessities.  They'll wear their clothing until it's so worn out they can't wear it anymore so the clothing industry will suffer.  They won't be buying consumer electronics, so that industry will suffer.  They won't be able to afford to go to the doctor, so the health care industry will suffer as well.

If you stop to consider the facts, you will see how many lies the party rhetoric is perpetrating.  Rather than listen to ignorant "rah rah" speeches and calling everything Commie Socialist just because you heard someone say it or you think you don't like it, try taking a look at the truth of the matter.  Do some research and see what is really going on.  Yes, it takes time and it's work, but the life you save may be your own.

If you don't own large quantities of land and are not a millionaire or better, it is likely that you will be one of the slaves, not a slave owner.  Do you really think supporting slavery is a wonderful thing?  How will you feel when you're the slave?  Do you really think you'll be able to work when you're 70 and your heart and lungs are failing, your bones break easily, and you get winded walking for 5 minutes?  If so, keep on supporting policies that will turn you into serfs.

Sources:

http://becerra.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=668:opening-statement-of-social-security-subcommittee-ranking-member-xavier-becerra&catid=15:becerra-blog&Itemid=56

http://theweek.com/article/index/213136/the-congressional-millionaires-club-by-the-numbers

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/your-senator-is-probably-a-millionaire/

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-15/business/21983904_1_labor-turnover-survey-job-seekers-job-market

Now, for your pleasure...



Copyright © 2011 Cal Jennings