This morning the Atlanta Journal Constitution published a letter suggesting the writer was willing--yea, more than ready--to take a cut in Social Security "for fiscal stability." "How many Americans are with me?" the letter ends.
This letter was amazingly similiar to one the AJC published a month or so ago, from another (maybe) retired private citizen willing to accept SS and Medicare cuts for the good of his country. I didn't save the earlier one, but am printing today's "sacrifice me, please" letter and my reply (which I hope the AJC will print--but maybe not.)
Is anybody else seeing these in local newspapers?
Here is today's (August 15, 2011) letter, printed under the heading Deficit, "Not afraid to make a personal sacrifice":
"Kudos for running the Joe Nocera column ("While the world markets sway," Opinion, Aug. 10) I agree that we need to come forward and state what we are willing to sacrifice to gain control of the deficit.
I am retired, covered by Social Security and Medicare, and am certainly not wealthy. But I am willing to make the following sacrifices: a 10 percent reduction in my Social Security payments; a 10% reduction in Medicare benefits; ending tax deductibility of my mortgage interest payments; and a dollar a gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax (not only for revenue, but for energy conservation). These measures would negatively impact my standard of living by several thousands of dollars a year, but I am willing to accept that for financial stability.
How many Americans are with me?"
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That's the letter. I'm going to try to find the earlier similar one. Here is the reply I just fired off to AJC by email:
"This is in response to the 'Not afraid to make a personal sacrifice' letter printed in the August 11, 2001 AJC. I, too, am retired and covered by Social Security and Medicare, which I paid into when I was an employee and also when I was self-employed. The writer suggested he was willing to take a cut in his SS and Medicare "for financial stability."
If I gave everything I have to the US government, it would not help reduce the deficit as long as multi-national corporations continue to enjoy the benefits of American markets, cheap foreign labor, no tariffs, and loopholes enabling them to avoid paying their fair share of taxes on American-generated profits.
My 100% contribution would not help reduce the deficit as long as the bulk of our national expenses go to war-profiteers. How much taxes is paid by the war-for-profit organization formerly known as Blackwater? By the contractors building barracks in Iraq, so shoddy that some of our troops have been electrocuted in the shower?
If people like me gave up the social safety net we invested in, would it even begin to cover the federal subsidies received by oil companies or big agriculture?
Do we want to get real about a balanced budget? Then require everyone to play by the same rules. Let hedge-fund manager millionaires now paying at a lower rate than a fire-fighter, pay a fair rate for a change. The United States has no feudal past of aristocrats and serfs--but if we continue to squeeze the middle-class and poor people while we ennoble corporations and the super-wealthy, we certainly will have a feudal future."
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That's my letter. It could be better but I wanted to strike while the iron (and I) were hot.
Kossacks, are you seeing any "take my SS, please" letters in your local papers? Does this appear to be an astroturf campaign to you?
I'd love to know.
2:42 PM PT: Came in to correct a serious omission in my LTE. The US did have a sort of feudal past in the South, where plantation owners thought they were aristocrats and other Americans were forced to servitude against their will. We're supposed to be beyond that. Serfdom in any form is not something we want to be moving toward. (This is why diversity is good--to remember stuff.)
4:51 PM PT: See last entry. Kossack Just Saying posted, linking to the Minnesota-based conservative think tank Center of the American Experiment. Looks like this "cut my SS please" thing is a campaign of theirs. Apparently it is taking off.