decisions have been made by millions to continue to work and pay taxes in private business knowing that SS would be there....
in my situation, I get no defined pension from my work even after 35 yrs or so....I get only whatever I've been able to save....
SS is my retirement....
I'd agree to indexing...index govt pensions with SS....sounds fair to me.......
we've got govt workers retiring at age 40 or so and some double and triple dipping and our govt officials think its fair to take away the measly SS checks for the rest of us?????
And, if anyone here wishes to say I and other veterans don't deserve it, that's fine with me. As I said in my previous post, you can compare the "morality" of one government payment to another. We could compare Somali "refugee" who automatically qualifies for housing, food, and SSDI vs. an FBI agent I know who was severely wounded in the line of duty. Who wins that argument?
If I were to argue what was "promised" me vs. what is reality today, I would win the argument. I was promised health care and dental care for me and my family for life when I joined the military. Not only was it in the recruiting brochures printed at the time, it was spoken to at every chain of command and on the floor of the Senate and House. I have a $2,000 dental bill and a $700 medical bill sitting on my desk from just this month that belies that promise. A Medal of Honor recipient (Col "Bud" Day) was forced to sue to the US Govt for reneging on their promises for health care treatment. Eventually, the courts decided to screw us veterans anyway. How's that for betrayal?
However, I don't wish to become a circus clown in the arena for the Nasty Pelosi's of the world, pitting one group against another. But, when the subject of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security comes up on this board, the long knives come out every time. Why? Fear. Fear that "mine" will be scaled back and "theirs" will increase. I won't play that game. I'll rely on God alone, not make government my god.
Having said all of that, it still does none of us any good to dance around the campfire on Free Republic and pretend that Social Security is not an entitlement (as another poster suggested). Read the very definition of entitlement.
For SS recipients, my father is get SS. He is over 80, and receives much more than he ever paid "in" the system. Good for him, and bad for my children and grandchildren. They will never get SS. Neither, I believe, will I. So, be grateful for what have received.
If SS had been left alone, and the actual money not spent, and Disability payments completely left off the coffiers, then SS would be solvent today. We get the government we deserve, and none of the above came to fruition. SS is bankrupt (the IOUs in there that pledge the "full faith and credit of the United States" are a joke).