Tuesday, October 24, 2017

MY COUSIN FRANKLIN'S LEGACY


I applied for my Social Security benefits when I was 62, and have received a monthly check for the past five years, (and am thankful to have it). Along with my Medicare benefits, I am fortunate to have earned a military retirement and subscribe to Tricare, a military health insurance program.

Speaking of my previous application for Social Security benefits, I recall making the initial application by phone with a Civil Service worker who worked in a government phone bank in Alabama. During our interaction, I made her aware that the Social Security program came into being during the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt; my 6th cousin. We bantered this bit of trivia about, and she seemed to think it rather novel.

I just read a byline on a social media site which claimed President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget would include cuts to Social Security and Medicaid, and what was described as the extreme “fat cat” benefits which some federal employees and Civil Service retirees are receiving.

Following is an original response I left below the post, and a subsequent exchange with someone who responded to my initial response.


Cuts to Medicaid and Social Security benefits for the disabled? Shame on anyone who contemplates such a travesty.





(Kris _____)

Social Security was never meant to be the only means of retirement and was a Ponzi scheme from the beginning. The tax paid is a general payroll tax like any other tax and not an insurance premium. Medicaid is an unearned benefit and transfer of wealth program.







If you say so, Kris. I happen to be glad my 6th cousin, Pres. Franklin Roosevelt, had the foresight to bring the Social Security program into fruition. It's easy to philosophize about unearned benefits until you need such benefits. I, for one, paid into Social Security for multiplied decades.




And speaking of needing it, I have a grown disabled daughter who receives Medicaid and S.S. benefits, and I'm darn glad she does. If not, by now her medical and monetary benefits would have exceeded my ability to supplement, and I would be living under a tree in a tent.




Oh, and speaking of needing it, prior to her passing my very ill mother spent 2 years in a nursing home, to the tune of $100,000 a year; the vast majority of which Medicaid paid.




And, I expect, that if you are not already receiving your S.S. check and Medicare benefits, as I am, there will come a day when you're glad these benefits are available for you; rather than the possibility of having to work, if only to keep medical benefits, until the day you die.




And to return to an earlier theme, unless your mother was in need of extraordinarily expensive specialized care for an extended period of time, and unless you have witnessed your daughter in the throes of psychosis, contended with her monetary, housing and health care needs for a quarter of a century, and enjoyed the benefits of socialized medicine in this regard, I'm not sure you're properly qualified to comment on such an issue.




Oh, and if you really feel the way you claim to feel, please save us all the financial burden which we share with you, and avoid applying for Social Security and old age medical benefits. We wouldn't want to jeopardize the philosophy you claim to embrace.


by William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Pt. 32. Copyright Pending.

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