In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole said there was a looming crisis with Social Security and the system needed to be fixed. They raised the FICA tax, added the Medicare tax, taxed Social Security benefits and called the whole package a tax cut. Of course, it was one of the biggest tax increases in the history of the country, but those kinds of facts have never stopped the GOP from positive spin.

That tax increase was hardest on people making under $60,000 a year.

The idea was to have a Social Security surplus that would be saved for the 21st century to pay benefits when the FICA tax was less than benefits paid. By 2018, there should be $2.5 trillion in the “locked box.”

The box was never “locked” and the Social Security surplus was used to fund tax cuts for the rich and for defense spending. Clinton ran a surplus and tried to pay down the debt to get ready for 2018. Bush’s tax cuts have blown the surplus and put Social Security in “crisis,” as the GOP planned.

Non-negotiable bonds (IOUs) were put into the “locked box.” The GOP doesn’t want to pay back the $2.5 trillion they have stolen from us and now spokespersons are pushing to “reform” Social Security. Their real plan is kill Social Security.

If the American people let the GOP get away with this despicable plan, they are dumb as rocks and deserve whatever happens next.

Judson Duncan, Monmouth

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