[Winona Online Democracy]
Greetings,
My first stop whenever I see an email that has been
forwarded several times is the "Urban Legends" website
to make sure that the information is accurate. This is
a wonderful website that researches many of the emails
that are circulated around the internet and lets you
know whether they are true or false.
If you visit that page you'll find that Congresspeople
do pay into social security (starting in 1984), though
they also have a pension that is fairly generous --
though not nearly as generous as described in the email
(no, Bill Bradley's wife will not receive 7 million
dollars).
If you'd like to know the details of this issue, please
go to:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/pensions.htm
You can also visit www.snopes.com to read about the
many urban legends circulating the internet and use the
search function to research any particular emails you
happen to recieve.
-Steve Kranz
Quoting "Duane M. Peterson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
>
> My apologies to all gov't workers on this list!!
>
>
> Subject: Fwd: Congress
>
>
> In a message dated 2/5/2001 11:40:17 PM Eastern
Standard Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
>
>
> 7bit
>
> Our Senators and Congressmen do not pay into
Social Security, and, > of
> course therefore they do not collect it. Social
Security benefits were > not
> suitable
> for persons of their rare elevation in society.
They felt they should > have a
> special plan
> for themselves.
>
> 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, they continue to draw their same pay until
they die, except it > may be
> increased time to time for living
> adjustments.
> For example, former Sen. Bradley, and his wife may
be expected to
> draw$7,900,000.00 with Mrs. Bradley drawing
$275,000.00 during the > last years
> of her
> life.Their cost for this plan is zilch.
>
> You and I pick up this tab for this plan. This
fine retirement > plan is
> funded directly from the General Funds of the U.S.
Treasury. OUR tax > dollars
> at work.
> Social Security,which you and I pay into every
payday for our own
> retirement, with and equal amount matched by our
employer, we can > expect to
> get an average of
> $1000.00 or better per month from OUR SS plan, or
we would have to > collect
> our benefits for 681 years and 1month to equal
Bradley's benefits.
>
> Imagine for a moment that you could structure a
retirement plan so
> desireable that people would have extra amounts
deducted from their > pay to
> enhance their own
> personal retirement income. 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
> could be made.
> That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece
Retirement Plan out > from
> under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into
Soc.Sec. plan with > the rest
> of us,
> then watch how fast they would fix it.
>
> If enough people receive this, maybe a seed will
be planted and > maybe
> good changes would evolve. Pass it on.
----------------
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