October 9, 2002

A Cure For GOP Email Lies About Social Security

A BuzzFlash Reader Commentary
by Faun Otter

Help send out an antibiotic for a Republican viral email.

The Republican 'big lie' machine has generated an utterly false email that they have launched onto the internet to mislead less politically aware voters about social security.

Let us take a proactive approach to their mendacity. Instead of waiting to be copied on the right wing's propaganda and then replying with a rebuttal, we should go on the offensive and give them a dose of the truth. Here is an accurate and logical message that can be emailed and posted widely. If we act fast, the GOP email will look like a childish response to this statement. Please forward this to boards, news media and to your email friends. Feel free to edit for your specific audience:

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Q.* Which party put a tax on Social Security?
A.* The Republican party. Ronald Reagan signed the bill for taxing Social Security benefits.

"President Reagan appointed a blue-ribbon panel, known as the Greenspan Commission, to study the financing issues and make recommendations for legislative changes. The final bill, signed into law in 1983, made numerous changes in the Social Security and Medicare programs, including the taxation of Social Security benefits, the first coverage of Federal employees under Social Security and an increase in the retirement age in the next century."
http://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html

Q.* Which party wants to privatise social security and cut your payments by as much as 46%?
A.* The Republican party. Here are the hidden details of the Republican privatization plan:

"Under current law, each member of the couple would receive a monthly scheduled benefit of just over $2,000 (in 2001 dollars). The shift to price indexing under Model 2 would reduce the benefit by $933 per month (for all such couples, regardless of whether they participated in the individual accounts). If the couple had decided not to participate in the individual account, the resultant benefit would be $1,099 per month. This would be 46 percent below scheduled levels – or $933 a month for each member of the couple."

Q.* How much will the plan to privatise social security cost?
A.* The Republican’s privatization plan cost us huge tax increases and cuts in services.

"....the partial privatization proposed by the commission would cost TRILLIONS of dollars in general government revenues as the price of keeping the Social Security System intact."
http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2002/06/kuttner-r-06-24.html

One Trillion dollars is $1,000,000,000,000 - a million dollars a million times over makes one trillion dollars.

The Republicans want to use our Social Security to pay off their CEO donors by putting the money in the stocks of companies like Enron and Global Crossing. And the worst part about it is they call anyone who opposes their plans "unpatriotic." We have a chance to let them know what we think of this devious plan, the voting for Congressional seats is coming up in just a few weeks.

We have worked hard and paid our share of social security taxes. We paid those funds so that we would have some money for rent and food when we retire.

We earned our benefits, We made our plans, and we need politicians who will keep the promise of Social Security. No changes, no reductions, no way.

Don't vote for the Republican plan to cut our retirement income.

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FYI - here is the original GOP liemail and, below it, a rebuttal:

"Q.* Which party took Social Security from an independent fund and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A.* It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.

Q.* Which party put a tax on Social Security?
A.* The Democratic party.

Q.* Which party increased the tax on Social Security?
A.* The Democratic Party with Al Gore throwing the deciding vote.

Q.* Which party decided to give money to immigrants? That's right, an immigrant moves to this country at 65 and gets SSI Social Security.
A.* The Democratic Party gave that to them although they never paid any money into it. Then after doing all this, they turn around and tell you the Republicans want to take away your Social Security. And the worst part about it is, you might believe it! The voting for Congressional seats is coming up in just a few short weeks. Think about how you want to vote! PLEASE PASS THIS ON!"

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If you get the above GOP message, here is a suggested answer for you to send as 'reply all' -

Q: Which party took Social Security from an independent fund and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.

FALSE

Rebuttals can be found at:
Cato Institute
http://www.socialsecurity.org/
SSP Report No. 24 p. 6

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98jul/socsec.htm
"The Social Security Trust Fund is an accounting fiction."

http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/departments/2002/news/0405_news_1.html
"Trust Funds: A Healthy Picture"

Q: Which party put a tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic party.

FALSE

Ronald Reagan signed a bill taxing Social Security benefits. http://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html

"In the early 1980s the Social Security program faced a serious short-term financing crisis. President Reagan appointed a blue-ribbon panel, known as the Greenspan Commission, to study the financing issues and make recommendations for legislative changes. The final bill, signed into law in 1983, made numerous changes in the Social Security and Medicare programs, including the taxation of Social Security benefits, the first coverage of Federal employees under Social Security and an increase in the retirement age in the next century."

Q: Which party increased the tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic Party with Al Gore casting the deciding vote.

TRUE, But Misleading

The answer is misleading because it does not mention any specific bill on which Al Gore cast the deciding vote. It may refer to the VPs constitutional power to break a tie vote in the Senate. Thus the reference might be to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 in which the VP did cast a vote in the Senate to break a tie. This Act was a huge bill that covered everything from agricultural commodities, licensing of radio spectrum, luxury automobile taxes, fuels, banking, Medicare, etc., etc. The bill passed in the House by a vote of 218-216 and in the Senate by 51-50.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d103:HR02264:

|TOM:/bss/d103query.html| H.R. 2264 Latest Major Action: 8/10/1993 Became Public Law No: 103-66.

Q. Which party decided to give money to immigrants?
A: That's right, immigrants moved into this country at 65 and got SSI Social Security. The Democratic Party gave that to them although they never paid a dime into it.

FALSE

1972 Public Law 92-603, enacted October 30 "Other Eligibility Provisions Citizenship and Residence. The individual must reside within one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia and be a citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence or permanently residing in the United States under color of law." The SSI (Supplemental Security Income) and the automatic annual COLA (Cost of Living Adjustments) based on the Consumer Price Index were pushed, signed, and implemented during the Nixon administration. So immigrants first received SSI under the Republican administration of President Richard M. Nixon.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/pdf/ssi.pdf

Bill Clinton signed legislation barring immigrants from receiving SSI as part of The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html

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I got all this information from the site that debunks 'urban legends' --- it is called Snopes.com. Someone has been pulling your chain. The message you sent to me about social security looks like it was written by some nut who hates America and is in need of learning our family values - they will go to hell as soon for lying as for stealing!

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