Ever wonder why we're (USA) so in debt?

[dirtygeek]

Don't get mad at me, my aunt asked me to share with my friends.

SOCIAL SECURITY:
Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. !

Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it. You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan.

In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die. Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments.

For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two Dignitaries. Younger Dignitaries who retire at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00. This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds. "OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK"!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into, -every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer)- we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month after retirement.

Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us ... then sit back and watch how fast they would fix it.

[Jasun]

Well.. yeah.. sort of... first, yeah it totally sucks that they get this rather undeserved perk.

But getting rid of it wouldn't make much of a dent.

We're talking about no more than a few hundred people collecting at any given time, as opposed to the millions of people collecting regular social security. Pulling it would put a few dollars more per year in he hands of pensioners.. not enough to be really noticeable.

Millions more dollars are spent every day on defense. They'll spend more money sending the astronauts to Mars. This "war" in Iraq will cost enough to keep it going for years. There's a lot of waste, though, it's very true.

[Lee]

Originally posted by Jasun
Millions more dollars are spent every day on defense. They'll spend more money sending the astronauts to Mars. This "war" in Iraq will cost enough to keep it going for years. There's a lot of waste, though, it's very true.

Thats pretty much the same thing i was going to say to this topic.

Especially the space program stuff, we still havent discovered all there is on this planet we live without trying to explore other planets that we as a race can screw up the ecosystems of $0.02

Regards,

Lee