[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

6.8 million, mainly unionized, mainly Democrat voters, who work for government are exempt from Social Security taxes

Is this true?!?!? I've never heard this before. If so, this is a huge outrage!

[blackdog]

It is true prior to like 1980 or there abouts. Federal employees never paid social security until then. The reasoning was that they had their own system. The new hires after that date do pay social security. I love that town in Texas that opted out of Social Security in total. They are all filthy rich now. It was an experiment which was thought to illustrate that the people cannot be afforded individual responsibilities over matters such as their own retirement. It went horribly wrong from the Gov't point of view. People had accumulated so much money so fast, they didn't know quite what to do!

[LarryLied]

While coverage is compulsory for most types of employment, approximately 6.8 million workers did not have any coverage under Social Security in 1999. The majority of these noncovered workers are in State and local governments or the Federal Government.

Office of Research, Evaluation and
Statistics, Social Security Administration.

Beginning January 1, 1983, Federal employees were covered under the Medicare (HI) portion of the Social Security tax, and all Federal employees hired after 1983 are covered under the OASDI portion as well.

In 1997, 71 percent of State and local government workers (16.1 million out of 22.6 million) were covered by Social Security. Beginning January 1, 1984, all employees of nonprofit organizations became covered, and as of April 1983 terminations of Social Security coverage by State government entities were no longer allowed.

State and local employees hired after March 31, 1986 are mandatorily covered under the Medicare Program and must pay hospital insurance (HI) payroll taxes.

Beginning July 1, 1991, State and local employees who were not members of a public retirement system were mandatorily covered under Social Security. This requirement was contained in the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA 1990, Public Law 101-508)."

TABLE 1-8.--ESTIMATED SOCIAL SECURITY COVERAGE OF WORKERS WITH STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT, 1997

Alabama. . .93%
Alaska. . .50%
Arizona . . .91%
Arkansas . . .92%
California . . .44%
Colorado. . .31%
Connecticut. . .69%
Delaware. . .61%
Florida. . .86%
Georgia. . .73%
Hawaii. . .66%
Idaho. . .94%
Illinois. . .53%
Indiana. . .89%
Iowa. . .87%
Kansas. . .86%
Kentucky. . .77%
Louisiana. . .14%
Maine. . .49%
Maryland. . .92%
Massachusetts. . .9%
Michigan. . .86%
Minnesota. . .90%
Mississippi. . .91%
Missouri. . .78%
Montana. . .90%
Nebraska . . .88%
Nevada. . .31%
New Hampshire. . .87%
New Jersey. . .93%
New Mexico. . .84%
New York. . .95%
North Carolina. . .92%
North Dakota. . .87%
Ohio. . .3%
Oklahoma. . .89%
Oregon. . .92%
Pennsylvania. . .96%
Rhode Island. . .81%
South Carolina. . .93%
South Dakota. . .93%
Tennessee. . .92%
Texas. . .56%
Utah. . .91%
Vermont. . .95%
Virginia. . .92%
Washington. . .87%
West Virginia. . .88%
Wisconsin. . .98%
Wyoming . . .84%

Source: Office of Research, Evaluation and
Statistics, Social Security Administration.