reply

[Dale300@aol.com]

Dear Bob Carlitz,
Since you are opening the parameters of SSA, maybe the Social Security System 
ought to be replaced by something entirely new in concept. There are so many 
inequities in the SSA anyway; for example, if you earn a government pension 
but have another business that you pay fully into Social Security  you can 
only draw very little on it when you retire.  Why should people be punished 
for working hard and not be rewarded? Maybe government should think about 
training people to help build their own houses, train them to do a job, etc., 
so they can pay taxes and teach them how to invest their money like everybody 
else. I certainly would want to help someone who cannot do a job or is 
physically unable to do anything to help him/herself but that criteria ought 
to be very strict (much more so than it is at the present time). We do not 
offer too many consequences for people who refuse to work and save. As a 
social worker, I have seen way too many people feel that they are owed. This 
attitude needs to be dealt with and that could be helped through education. I 
would not mind paying taxes into a system that would educate people to help 
themselves to be financially stable and if they don't go through the system 
than they need to suffer the consequences.  I would like to see some changes. 
I just know that when people feel that they can take care of themselves, they 
are happier and so is everybody else!
Sincerely,
Dale Ann Oakley