To the editor: If the U.S. Senate votes to pass the Social Security Fairness Act, it is going to be righting an egregious unsuitable inflicted on hundreds of thousands of hard-working folks for means too lengthy. The Windfall Elimination Provision and the Authorities Pension Offset have prevented them from receiving their rightful advantages for many years.
Individuals who have labored in public sector jobs that don’t pay into Social Safety have, typically, additionally labored for a number of years in non-public sector jobs that did pay into Social Safety. As a result of they obtain a public pension, they get subsequent to nothing for these Social Safety funds. In lots of circumstances, due to these cut up profession decisions, their public pensions are small, and with out Social Safety they’re compelled to stay in poverty.
On high of that injustice, the Authorities Pension Offset severely reduces or eliminates spousal and survivor advantages. A partner with completely no employment report can get advantages, however as a result of somebody has chosen to work for the general public good, they’re denied this fundamental lifeline.
Whereas this travesty has festered, a lot of its victims have died ready for reduction. Everyone knows that the Social Safety system faces reform throughout the subsequent decade, however squeezing the final ill-gotten dime from these lengthy struggling staff just isn’t solely unsuitable, it’s merciless!
Mark McCloud, Newhall
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To the editor: The adjustments that Biden and Trump need to make to Social Safety will harm ladies greater than males. For years I labored alongside males doing the identical job however incomes considerably much less pay. Clearly that meant I paid much less into Social Safety, so now I get far much less.
If the Senate passes the Social Safety Equity Act and Biden indicators it, by growing advantages there will probably be much less cash within the fund. If Trump doesn’t permit tricks to be taxed and permits extra folks to be sub-contractors as an alternative of workers, much less cash will go into the fund. It appears to me that the one cause Republicans are towards growing the utmost wages topic to Social Safety tax is as a result of to take action would additionally improve the quantity firms must pay.
What the politicians are doing with these so-called bipartisan actions is not any totally different than what insurance coverage firms do after you pay for protection: They scale back it or take it away.
Shirley Conley, Gardena
