VG, I don't feel the same way about income taxes, because the money they provide are used for, entirely, different reasons, such as fighting wars, fighting crime, national security, highway construction, and other tangible programs that we can actually see. I am, however, appalled at the misuse of income taxes, and the gestapo tactics of the IRS.
The SS situation cannot be changed very much at this late date, but I can still bitch about it, just like I bitch about income taxes.
I have no idea of your age, but to think that anything the FDR administration was well-intentioned, is foolish. Every thing he did was to glorify himself in the eyes of the American people, and he got away with it most of the time. He even dodged the bullet of his complicity in the attack on Pearl Harbor, that killed thousands of Americans. His military advisors asked him not to have the entire Pacific Fleet anchor at Pearl, because of the touchy situation cause by him violating every contract we had with the Japanese. But against such wise advice, he sent an executive order for the fleet to be assembled, ripe for attack by the Japanese Navy. His programs to end the Great Depression were failing, and he needed a drastic event to boost the economy, which in many cases has been through warfare. If it hadn't been for Adm. Bull Halsey holding his carrier task force out of Pearl, contrary to the order, we would have had no way to combat any Japanese invasion that they wanted to wage.
The Social Security act was implemented to help make the citizenry dependent on the federal government, which was one of the first steps of liberalism in this country. He also promised a chicken in every pot, and a car in every garage, too. How did he expect to pay for that? What he didn't anticipate, is the rocket like rise in the value of the dollar, which made SS unable to cope with the rising cost of living, and inflation of the dollar. As you said, no one expected the sudden lengthening of the lives in the elder community.
There is nothing we can do about either the SS, or IRS, in a short time frame. I believe in a flat income tax, but not one based on purchases by people, but on their income. A flat tax will have a great deal of opposition because it will affect the extremely wealthy, and they carry a lot of sway in the political scene. |
