In last week's column, I took on some allegations from
a diatribe foolishly called a "Social Security History
Lesson" that's floating around on the Internet.
Instead of offering any real insight into Social
Security's past, the silly document rewrites history
in a partisan attempt to portray Democrats as the
political party out to ruin Social Security.
I covered about half of the attacks last week. This
week, I am looking at more misleading allegations and
more hard facts.
Allegation: The Internet document asks, "Which
political party started taxing Social Security
annuities?" And it answers the question this way: "The
Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the
tie-breaking vote."
Fact: My conservative friends are going to be
shocked to hear this, but I'm afraid it was their
hero, President Reagan, who first started taxing
Social Security benefits. Yes, the poster boy for the
anti-government tea party crowd instituted one of the
largest tax increases in the history of this country
when he signed the Social Security Reform Act of 1983.
But actually, the guy deserves credit for doing so.
At the time, Social Security was in dire straits.
There were only enough reserves left in the Social
Security trust funds to keep the system running for
another five years or so. So, he created the National
Commission on Social Security Reform and named Alan
Greenspan to head the panel. They produced a series of
proposals that Reagan signed into law — some of which
cut benefits (e.g., dependent benefits to college
students were eliminated) and some of which raised
revenues (the aforementioned taxation of Social
Security benefits). Their actions — and frankly,
Reagan's courage to take on the naysayers and anti-tax
zealots of his own Republican Party — are in large
part responsible for keeping the Social Security
system solvent to this day.
The wackos who put out the "Social Security History
Lesson" can at least claim a sliver of truth to their
allegation that the Democrats were involved in taxing
Social Security. It was the Clinton administration
that modified the tax rules in 1993 by raising the
portion of benefits subject to taxation for wealthier
people from 50 percent to 85 percent. (I have no idea
if Al Gore cast the tie-breaking vote, but let's say
he did, so the people who put out this partisan
puffery can take credit for getting one thing right!)
By the way, with all the hoopla over the taxation
of Social Security benefits, it's interesting to note
that the vast majority of Americans don't pay any
taxes on their benefits. In order to have your
benefits taxed, your overall income has to exceed
certain thresholds that depend on whether or not you
are married and on your tax filing status. And again,
most people do not exceed those income limits.
Allegation: The Internet history lesson asks this
question, "Which political party decided to start
giving Social Security payments to immigrants?" And it
answers, "That's right! Jimmy Carter and the
Democratic Party. Immigrants move into this country,
and at age 65, they begin to receive Social Security
payments. The Democratic Party gave these payments to
them, even though they never paid a dime into it!"
Facts: This is absolute hogwash. But it's an
example of how misinformation gets spread in today's
Internet world. If you repeat something often enough,
no matter how preposterous, people will believe it —
especially if they are inclined to believe
anti-government propaganda in the first place.
How do I begin to set the facts straight on this
one? Let's start with this basic premise: No one can
get Social Security retirement benefits unless he or
she has worked and paid enough Social Security taxes
to become insured. And that usually means a minimum of
10 years of work.
Also, from the time the original Social Security
Act was passed in 1935, the law has never set a
citizenship test for benefit eligibility. As long as
you had worked long enough to be insured, you could
receive retirement benefits at age 62. And a small
fraction of those benefits are paid to immigrants WHO
ARE LIVING IN THIS COUNTRY LEGALLY.
So, how did these guys tie Jimmy Carter into the
immigrants and Social Security story? It's an example
of how they can take a tiny kernel of truth, and twist
it and tweak it until they've come up with a whopper
of a lie. What did happen while Jimmy Carter was
president is that the first international Social
Security treaty agreements were signed. Recognizing as
early as the 1970s that we really were developing a
global economy, Social Security program managers
around the world realized they needed to establish
agreements among themselves.
Often, citizens of one country were working in
another country. Sometimes they worked for a
corporation headquartered in their native land. And
sometimes they worked for a company in the country in
which they were residing. But this led to all kinds of
issues with respect to Social Security taxes and
eventual Social Security benefits: For example, should
you pay Social Security taxes to your native country
or to the country in which you are working? Or should
you get Social Security benefits from your native
country or from the country where you were working?
These are the kinds of issues the Social Security
treaty agreements are designed to deal with. And
President Carter signed the first of these treaties in
the late 1970s with Italy and Germany. Today, we have
such agreements with about 25 countries around the
world.
If you have a Social Security question, Tom
Margenau has the answer. Contact him at
thomas.margenau@comcast.net. To find out more about
Tom Margenau and read features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM.
