PRESENT AND FUTURE RETIREES ARE BEING ROBBED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993                   TAG: 9302080281
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
PRESENT AND FUTURE RETIREES ARE BEING ROBBED
IT APPEARS to me that a far worse scandal than the savings-and-loan disaster, BCCI, Irangate and Watergate has been and is being actively condoned and perpetuated by the new Clinton administration and the present legislature in Washington.
There has been what appears to be a systematic policy to blame Social Security beneficiaries for a major portion of the federal deficit. This is a lie, completely untrue and completely divorced from the facts.
Facts are: In 1990, Congress in effect stole $36.2 billion from the Social Security Trust Fund; in 1991, they stole $63 billion; and a further increase in robbery came in 1992 when they stole $70 billion. This is a total of $169.2 billion that has been "borrowed" with no intention of ever paying it back, or of paying interest on the funds borrowed. This latter sum, along with the current surplus of $52 billion, belongs largely to the people who have not yet retired but who are paying increasing amounts of their salaries and wages to a fund that is being emptied as fast as they are paying in. They are being robbed blind!
There is a present suggestion that if cost-of-living allowances are not paid to present Social Security beneficiaries for a year, the government will save $5 billion. How can they save what is not theirs anyway, but is being stolen from the trust fund? The suggestion will only increase the theft.
It is easy to see that if COLAs are stolen, the next move is to reduce Social Security benefits so that there will be a greater surplus of receipts over payments, to save more that can be applied to general funds. This is or should be of prime importance to all present payers of payroll taxes. Wake up! These taxes are being paid by you for your future and you are allowing the government to rob you of your future.
COLAs are also in place for the president, the vice president, senators, congressmen, federal judges, etc. Why not freeze COLAs for all of these, and spread "the sacrifice" a bit more?
It has also been quoted that direct federal financial and unemployment benefits to illegal aliens totals $5.4 billion per year. Clean up this mess before cutting COLAs to retirees! WILLIAM E. BUTTERFIELD BLUE RIDGE

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB