MOJAVE MULESKINNERS

Things are a lot better than they used to be. It's true. In 1900, a mere hundred years ago, if one decided to retire at an early age and the money was available, all you had to do was simply kick back and live on what you had saved. If you had saved a great deal, as you may have struck it rich with your little gold or silver mine, the remainder of your life could be spent doing exactly what you wanted to do. On the other hand, if you had worked very hard for forty years and never was paid much or managed to save much after feeding the wife and kids, you weren't going to have much, if anything, to live on the rest of your life.

 

Ah, but things are much better now. We have social security to take care of us. Imagine for a moment that one could find a retirement plan so desirable 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 were made. That change would be to simply jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan out from under the Senators and Congressmen and put them all into the Social Security plan with the rest of us. I mean with us working folk that pull down 35 to 45 thousand a year. We who have carried the burden of paying the most taxes all these years.

 

What am I referring to? Well sir, how about our Senators and Congressmen? They don't pay a cent into Social Security. Oh no! These learned men and women, these people of rare elevation in society, have felt that they should have a special plan for themselves. Many years ago, they voted in their special benefit plan. And in more recent years, no congress person has felt the need to change it. Why? Well it's a great plan. For all practical purposes the plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw their same pay until they die, except it may be increased from time to time by the cost of living adjustments, you see.

For example, former Senator Bradley, and his wife, may be expected to draw $7,900,000,00 with Mrs. Bradley $275,000,00 during the last year of her life. This is calculated on an average life span for each. Their cost for this excellent plan - $0, nada, nyet, zilch. This little perk they voted in for themselves is free to them. You and I pardner, pick up the tab for this.

 

This fine retirement is paid for directly from the General Funds.Our tax dollars at work! Social Security, which you and I pay into every payday for our own retirement, with an equal amount matched by our employer, we can expect to get an average of $1,000.00 per month from our Social Security Plan. And we would have to collect our benefits for 681 years and one month to equal the Bradley's benefits.

 

Life isn't fair. I've been told this since I've been old enough to savvy what life is. And I wonder if given the opportunity, would I vote myself such a fantastic plan? Maybe. But one thing's certain, the Social Security Plan could be a lot better if such thoughtful planning, creativity and motivation went into setting it up for we citizens as went into their own pockets.

 

 

~ Weakeyes Cody