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In 1935 the “people’s president,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, signed into law the most perfect, and virtually “cost free” social program in American history called “Social Security.”

The program was simple. Employers and employees contributed to the program. The only cost to the federal government was “management.” Based on the amount of income earned over a lifetime, funds are dispersed monthly after reaching a predetermined age of eligibility. Social Security did not require additional funds from the federal government.

Facts prove that no individual has lived long enough to collect the full amount contributed by the employee and his or her employers. Logically, Social Security should have a surplus of funds.

Government agencies are now claiming that Medicare will run out of money in 2026, and Social Security will only have enough money to operate 80 percent of its obligations in 2035. I have a single question; “what did our government do with money which belongs to working-class American families? What “pork belly” projects did they fund by embezzling money earned by our nation’s employees and employers?

I have another question; “do you trust your government?” If the answer is “yes,” I ask “why?” They lie to the American people constantly, and when something is exposed, they hide the truth under the false claim of “national security.” Our “nation” is the 320+ million Americans who inhabit this country. It is not our government, the Capitol building, the White House, or the Supreme Court. They serve us and when they choose not to perform their jobs, they must be removed from Washington. For probably the 50^th time, carefully read the wise suggestion by one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln.

“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.”

The second American Revolution need not be bloody. We can ignore political parties and elect the most qualified and patriotic men and women in our nation. The old, white men and a few women who have been in office for far too long must be retired with our votes.

Our Democratic Republic has failed the people because Capitalism has become what was predicted. It is a system which favors only one-percent of all Americans. Greed has replaced concern for the American worker. Republicans obey the petroleum industry, the pharmaceutical companies, and many other lobbies including the NRA and the Christian religious right. They have failed to serve working class America for more than three decades.

My wife and I would be homeless without Social Security. Our careers failed to offer retirement programs. Although our income remains insufficient to maintain our meager lifestyle, finding part-time employment allows us to pay our bills, but not much more. We are not alone.

Tell your friends; “The Truth Lives Here.”

Op-ed by James Turnage

Source
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/04/23/social-security-funds-running-out

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