ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611040009
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOROTHY A. GOOCH
THE POLITICAL cartoon on your Oct. 19 Opinion page shows what the cartoonist refers to as the Entitlement ``Party,'' and features Social Security and Medicare recipients guzzling and slurping down what the cartoonist apparently believes are unfair entitlements.
I would like to bring to the cartoonist's attention a few important details:
* Social Security is not the same as welfare. Retirees who draw from this federal retirement "insurance" have paid into it for years, while welfare recipients have never contributed to the welfare fund. They have only taken out of it.
* While Social Security recipients have paid into this fund in good faith for years, seldom if ever have you heard them complain when some child or widow, who has never paid into the system, draws Social Security benefits from funds contributed by a deceased family member. In other words, although the child or widow never paid in, he or she was still able to benefit from the system.
* Today, many young people complain that, although they must contribute to the Social Security system, they will probably never be able to draw Social Security for themselves. That may be true. However, there's another way of looking at this. Every day and every year, older Americans and, in some cases, younger Americans who have no children must pay huge amounts of taxes into county, state and federal coffers to finance schooling and activities for children who do not belong to them - children they may not even know.
These older Americans must still help carry the burden of financing schools and activities that benefit the children that younger Americans are having. Younger Americans with children even get income-tax breaks that older Americans do not get. Yet most older Americans do not cry about this situation. I think they more or less figure it equals out in the end.
Let me pose some thoughts for those under the age of 50. Many, if not all, have parents and/or grandparents who draw Social Security and use Medicare. They use these "entitlements" to live not so-called high-on-the-hog lifestyles but to exist. Suppose these same parents and grandparents no longer had Social Security or Medicare to rely on. Who will be responsible for feeding them or paying for their medical needs? You?
Your parents and/or grandparents may be too old to find work to support themselves. They may lose their home due to lack of rent money. In that case, where would they live- with you and your spouse and children? Think about that.
Who will take care of your parents and/or grandparents when and if they must be hospitalized? Many older Americans do not have, nor can they afford, hospitalization insurance. Can you buy it for them? It may cost as much as $800 to $1,000 a month for those with pre-existing conditions. Who will pay for their medications and their hospital stay? You?
Yes, young people are helping to pay for Social Security and Medicare programs. But would you rather have the alternative? No Social Security and Medicare, and it's up to you to take care of your parents and/or grandparents the best way you can.
If you think you have troubles now, try adding two sets of parents and maybe grandparents to your household. Living from day to day with that responsibility might be enough to send many young people, not to mention older people, over the brink. Paging Dr. Kevorkian.
That cartoon's creator needs to understand that the majority of people who draw Social Security and use Medicare are everyday Americans who live check to check each month. They don't "swill, stuff, munch, slobber, consume or burp" their Social Security income and Medicare. They use it to survive. There are some - the ones featured in the media as having a great time "living it up" on their retirement - who might not qualify for Social Security. But neither might a lot of politicians who have millions and still feed off the American people.
Dorothy A. Gooch of Dublin is a retired vocational schoolteacher.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB