Do Republicans want to take your Social Security ?

Franklin Roosevelt (Democrat) started Social Security in 1935


it was a voluntary for citizens to contribute and not more than 1% of the first $1,400 of your income.





Social Security taxes paid would be deductible from your income taxes.





Social Security would be put into an independent trust fund rather than the US General Fund (would only be used for Social Security payments and not for anything else)





Social Security checks would not be subject to income taxes after you retire, after all you paid taxes on the money you contributed.





The only catch is you had to pay into Social Security to be able to collect monthly payments.





Who took SSI out of the trust fund and put it into the General Fund ?





Which party eliminated the deduction for SSI Payments ?





Which party started taxing SSI annuities ? Who cast the deciding vote ?





Which Party started GIVING SSI payments to immigrants that never paid a dime into the system ?

Do Republicans want to take your Social Security ?
Q1. Which political party took Social Security from the independent trust fund and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it?





A1: There has never been any change in the way the Social Security program is financed or the way that Social Security payroll taxes are used by the federal government. The Social Security Trust Fund was created in 1939 as part of the Amendments enacted in that year. From its inception, the Trust Fund has always worked the same way. The Social Security Trust Fund has never been "put into the general fund of the government."





Most likely this question comes from a confusion between the financing of the Social Security program and the way the Social Security Trust Fund is treated in federal budget accounting. Starting in 1969 (due to action by the Johnson Administration in 1968) the transactions to the Trust Fund were included in what is known as the "unified budget." This means that every function of the federal government is included in a single budget. This is sometimes described by saying that the Social Security Trust Funds are "on-budget." This budget treatment of the Social Security Trust Fund continued until 1990 when the Trust Funds were again taken "off-budget." This means only that they are shown as a separate account in the federal budget. But whether the Trust Funds are "on-budget" or "off-budget" is primarily a question of accounting practices--it has no affect on the actual operations of the Trust Fund itself.





Q2: Which political party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?





A2: There was never any provision of law making the Social Security taxes paid by employees deductible for income tax purposes. In fact, the 1935 law expressly forbid this idea, in Section 803 of Title VIII.





Q3. Which political party started taxing Social Security annuities?





A3. The taxation of Social Security began in 1984 following passage of a set of Amendments in 1983, which were signed into law by President Reagan in April 1983. These amendments passed the Congress in 1983 on an overwhelmingly bi-partisan vote.





The basic rule put in place was that up to 50% of Social Security benefits could be added to taxable income, if the taxpayer's total income exceeded certain thresholds.





The taxation of benefits was a proposal which came from the Greenspan Commission appointed by President Reagan and chaired by Alan Greenspan, who was Chairman of the Federal Reserve.





Q4. Which political party increased the taxes on Social Security annuities?





A4. In 1993, legislation was enacted which had the effect of increasing the tax put in place under the 1983 law. It raised from 50% to 85% the portion of Social Security benefits subject to taxation; but the increased percentage only applied to "higher income" beneficiaries. Beneficiaries of modest incomes might still be subject to the 50% rate, or to no taxation at all, depending on their overall taxable income.





This change in the tax rate was one provision in a massive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) passed that year. The OBRA 1993 legislation was deadlocked in the Senate on a tie vote of 50-50 and Vice President Al Gore cast the deciding vote in favor of passage. President Clinton signed the bill into law on August 10, 1993





Q5. Which political party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?





A5. Neither immigrants nor anyone else is able to collect Social Security benefits without someone paying Social Security payroll taxes into the system.
Reply:There are some misconceptions here. Firstly, neither immigrants nor anyone else can collect from Social Security without having paid into it; the size of the benefits depends on the size of the payments. Secondly, the program was never voluntary. Thirdly, neither Republicans nor Democrats have the slightest interest in denying citizens Social Security benefits for which they have paid. What Republicans want to do is to make it possible for people to have individual investment accounts, as one can do in some other countries; had that been the case here, and you invested fully in such accounts and were now 65 years old, you would have FOUR TIMES as much money as you are getting from Social Security -- a difference which can approach a million dollars. If you don't believe this, get the Dow Jones stock data from their web site, the Social Security tax rate from their web site, combine this with your earnings history using Excel, and see what comes out.
Reply:I don't know but my son is only five and he just got his first check this month. If they stop it I won't be able to support him adequately. His dad paid in a good bit of money to Social Security. Actually I think my son's payments are really high considering his dad was only 32 when he died and he has two other children that receive the same amount. Do you think they over pay people?
Reply:Yes, there trying to privates it
Reply:all of the above.
Reply:Social Security is a mess





Another DNC plan that failed.