"Because ... It's MY Money!"

At this writing, I am five years and nine days away from retirement. I mention this because I’m concerned that the recently approved federal tax reform plan will eventually use my hard-earned Social Security and Medicare earnings (That’s right, earnings!) to help pay for the tax cuts to corporations, millionaires, and billionaires.

My response to such a monstrous move cannot be printed in a family publication.

 

If I were to delay my retirement until I turned 66 years old and 10 months, I would take home $2,181 per month before taxes. In addition to my Social Security earnings and my state government pension, I have a 401K account in the low five figures and a small IRA.

Although there are ongoing threats to my pension, this post focuses on the danger facing Social Security and Medicare. The $1.5 trillion tax bill approved by Congress provides a tax cut to working families that expires after 2025. Corporations win a permanent tax cut from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Because the tax bill will increase the national debt by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, something must be done to address the shortfall. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) proposed two things: "We have to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future."

So, I'm inferring that cuts in both programs go toward paying down the deficit from (partially) tax cuts to corporations and rich people.

Again, my response cannot be printed in a family publication.

I have worked for 35 years for the private then public sectors, enduring incompetent and bullying bosses along the way. I have a little more than five years from the finish line. I want my prize: low-cost health care and my retirement funds, which include my full Social Security allocation.

Because of this Trojan horse of a law, I will work in 2018 to get people elected who oppose this legislative mess. Why? As a famous comedian said as a tag line for a commercial for a defunct investment company, "It's my money!"

Writing Diva

Why I Didn’t Vote for Mitt Romney

To my Republican friends and acquaintances:

I recognize that you’re less than thrilled about the 2012 presidential election results. President Barack Obama was re-elected, and your champion Gov. Mitt Romney lost.

With all the Monday-morning quarterbacking about Tuesday’s election, I thought I would put in my 2 cents.

First, some ideology background: I have been a decline-to-state voter since 1988. I consider myself a slightly left-leaning moderate. I don’t always vote a straight Democratic/liberal ticket. (For instance, I voted “No” on California Proposition 37, the Genetically Engineered Food Act, because there were too many loopholes.)

Here are the reasons why I didn’t cast my ballot for Willard “Mitt” Romney:

1. Gov. Romney appeared desperate and aggressive while on the campaign trail. During the presidential debates, he not only talked over Obama, but the moderators. He launched his campaign with ads that attacked his opponent but rarely introduced Romney and his issue positions to the electorate.
2. Instead of directly answering a question about pay parity for women during the second debate, Romney spoke of efforts to find qualified, executive-level females by searching through “binders of women.” Seriously?!
3. The Republican Party had a worthy challenger in former Utah. Gov. Jon Huntsman. He’s a moderate Republican who was Obama’s U.S. ambassador to China until 2011. While I didn’t agree with all his political views, they were clearer than Romney’s. And Huntsman appeared willing to reach out to Congressional Democrats. However, the Tea Party wasn’t having someone who wasn’t conservative enough in its view.
4. I was unsure of which Mitt Romney the nation was going to get: the one who reached across the aisle as governor of Massachusetts or the one who dismisses 47 percent of the nation.
5. Romney’s running mate was U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), who brought along his plans to turn Medicare into a voucher system for people my age and younger. While my four older siblings would have regular Medicare, I would have to hunt for a physician with my “vouchers,” which may have kept their value while health care costs spiraled upward. I was not having that.
6. I got tired of hearing from the Romney campaign about how programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security were “entitlements” on the table for chopping. I’ve been paying taxes for 30 years toward those programs, and I consider my taxes to be an investment in them.
7. Finally, Romney needed to back away from Planned Parenthood, which provides health care to women unable to afford health insurance, and PBS, which airs many worthwhile programs, including “Sesame Street.” Hands off Big Bird!

I’m a single, childless working woman with a mortgage and bills to pay, as most Americans do. I don’t want handouts. I do, however, want to see a return in my investments.

Writing Diva