Replies

A pension, at least theoretically, has been earned through years of service. I contribute to my pension on a monthly basis, as does my employer (as part of my compensation). If I ever retire (which I doubt), I will live on the accrued value of the pension until it is depleted. But no one else will ever place additional funds in the pension should I exhaust those funds. So if I’m living on my money, that I saved over 40 years of work, I guess I’m still supporting myself, right?

I would make unfunded/underfunded pensions illegal. The idea that I will fund your pension after you retire with moneys taken by force from your children and their children is immoral and evil. If I can’t afford to fund your pension on a monthly basis while you work, how on earth will I be able to fund the pension plus thirty years of accrued interest after you retire? And this is the problem with social security as it now stands.

For those who were cheated by the government and promised a pension which is now unfunded/underfunded through no fault of their own, I would treat them for purposes of suffrage as if they were spending their own money, saved over 40 years. After all, they acted in good faith and did their part. I would treat social security retirees the same way. I would however, take a hard look at lifetime pensions paid to recipients with very short times of service. But I am mainly talking about disqualifying recipients of the 80 Federal programs which distribute Federal welfare benefits and not those who have retired.

Disability is a much simpler subject. If you’re talking of a combat veteran, injured in the line of duty, then he has earned the voting privilege for life even if completely supported by disability. For the other 9 million Americans who now receive Federal disability, they shouldn’t lead if they can’t contribute. No suffrage.