I received the following email this morning. I think it's a
wonderful idea. If you agree, please email it to others.
Our Senators and Congressmen do not pay into Social Security, and,
therefore, they do not collect from it.
Social Security benefits were not suitable for them. They felt
they should have a special plan. Many years ago they voted in their
benefit plan. In more recent years, no congress person 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 no matter how long they have been in office,
they continue to draw their same pay until they die - except that
it may be increased from time to time by cost-of-living
adjustments.
For example, former Senator Bill Bradley (New Jersey) and his wife
may be expected to draw $7,900,000.00 over an average life span, with
Mrs. Bradley drawing $275,000.00 during the last year of her life.
Their cost for this excellent plan is "0", nada, zilch. This little
perk they voted in for themselves is free to them - you and I pick
up the tab for this plan.
Our tax dollars at work.
Under Social Security - which you and I pay into every payday for
our own retirement, with an equal amount matched by our employer -
we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month. We would have to
collect benefits for 68 years and 1 month to equal the Bradley's
benefits. Imagine for a moment that you could structure a retirement
plan so desirable, a retirement plan that worked so well, that
Railroad Employees, Postal Workers, and others who were not in the
plan would clamor to be included.
This is how good Social Security could be, if only one small
change was made. That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece
Retirement Plan out from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them
into the Social Security plan with the rest of us.
Watch how fast they fix it!
If enough people receive this, maybe a seed will be planted, and
maybe good changes will evolve. How many people can you send this
to?
I'd just as soon drop out of Social Security, have the 6.2% my
employer contributes added to my wages, and drop 12% of my gross
income into a retirement plan I can control, although that certainly
doesn't look likely.
But if we are going to continue with the government's
pay-as-you-go Ponzi
scheme known as Social Security, the least we can do is insist
that all Americans participate in the program.
For more information on how Senators, Representatives, and other
federal employees, see the Urban
Legends at About.com. Although some facts in the above email are
incorrect, "the typical Member of Congress can draw more than a
million dollars in benefits over his or her lifetime," and "it is
still the case that Congressional pensions (which are not the same as
Social Security) accrue at a special, higher rate than those of other
federal workers &endash; 70 percent higher, according to
Representative Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas."
It's not the
iPod's fault, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 03.31. Don't blame Apple
because it doesn't support moving your music library from your iPod to
your computer. Apple never claimed it could do that.
Best Xserve deals,
03.31. Used 2.0 GHz dual G5, $1,100; refurb 2.0 dual-core Xeon, $1,999;
2.66, $2,799; 3.0, $3,499; new 2.8 GHz quad, $2,849; 8-core, $3,349;
3.0, $4,188.
Best Mac OS X 10.5
'Leopard' deals, 03.31. Mac OS X 10.5.1 single user, $99; 5 users,
$139; 10.5 Server, 10 users, $450; unlimited, $899.
Mar. 31 in LEM history. 96: Apple
shuts down eWorld - 00: The carpenter's trade in the computer age - 03:
Quill gripless ergonomic mouse - Angry about OS X, upgrade pricing -
04: Is Apple up or down these days? - Upgraded Pismo or 14" iBook? -
05: Risk of meteorite impact for your Mac - 06: Thanks for 30 strange
years - Class action madness - MacBook beefs - Many G3 Macs now
considered vintage
Designing
a better laptop: Look to the past, John Hatchett, Recycled
Computing, 02.27. Modern Apple notebooks have less expansion and
upgrade options than G3 PowerBooks from a decade ago
PowerBook 150
still a winner, Carl Nygren, My Turn, 03.27. An ancient PowerBook
can be a great portable for word processing and email - and it can even
browse the Web.
LINK
POLICY: This site allows and encourages
links to any public page, so long as the linked page does not appear
within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked page.
Low End
Mac is an independent publication and has
not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple
Computer, Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iMac, and iBook are
registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and
product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the
individual companies and are hereby acknowledged.
\r\n\r\n";
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