Help the government
..........Last year, fiscal 1999, the federal government robbed $67 billion in Social Security money from the pockets of 139 million working people in this country. This year, fiscal 2000, the amount available to the thieves is about $80 billion. That's not chicken feed.
..........And don't think that because your employer paid half of your contribution it wasn't your money. Ask your employer. He counts that as part of his cost of employing you. Given the choice, he would just as soon give the money directly to you instead of the government. It doesn't effect what follows anyway.
..........Right now, you are hearing all sorts of promises not to steal the money again this year. Some politicians are claiming that they've finally arrived at a budget for the year 2000 without touching Social Security money. Do you believe them? I think we'll find that, again, they've taken it all.
..........There's a "lock-box" bill in the Senate that addresses the same subject, but it's nothing more than a promise. It has no teeth in it. At best, it's supposed to make it embarrassing for a politician to stand up and ask that Social Security money be appropriated for this or that emergency or pork-barrel project. Can you beat that? A person who begs for millions every election year is supposed to be embarrassed about asking for money. Some lock-box. Still, it's better than nothing. HR-1259 has been stalled in the Senate since May 28, 1999 when it passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 416 to 12.
..........So far, the action taken to "save" Social Security is on a par with O.J. Simpson finding the real killer.
.................................................................What you can do
..........Besides yelling and screaming at your elected representatives and those now seeking office, a tactic that should never be underestimated even if you get nothing more than a "dear friend" response, there is something else you can do. You can deduct two percent of your wages from your taxes.
..........We are about to start filing our annual tax reports, are we not? Well, there's a line for pre-paid tax. Everyone who's self-employed or files quarterly tax estimates knows about this. The rest of you should learn about it. It's not complicated.
..........You overpay Social Security every year. The extra two percent of your FICA taxes, the extra money you and your employer contributed, went into the general fund coffers of the Treasury where it became part of last year's spending—it classifies as the same thing as personal income tax. That's what it became when they stole it. It's pre-paid tax you contributed in fiscal 1999. That's the way Congress and the Administration treated it.
..........So record this two percent for what it really became—pre-paid income tax that every working American paid in 1999. Let the thieves try to deny this.
..........In case you're thinking that two percent really isn't much money, let's take a closer look.
..............................................................................How
..........FICA taxes have a cut-off point of $68,400. In other words, if you made more than that in wages or salary, your FICA taxes stopped at that point. If they didn't stop there, you should fire your accountant. Two percent of $68,400 is $1,368 that you had stolen or that you should be able to claim as pre-paid tax. You should get it back. It's not chicken feed either.
..........The vast majority of people made less than this in fiscal 1999, but it's still the same two percent. Just figure out what two percent of your gross salary happens to be, two percent of the total you report on your tax return with your W-2 form, and put that two percent down as pre-paid tax. Please note, that we're talking about wages here, not income from investments, the lotto, or anywhere else.
..........If you made $10,000 in wages, then it was $200 you had stolen. If you made $20,000 it was $400, and so on. Just multiply your gross income by .02 and put the decimal point in the proper place in your result. Claim it as pre-paid tax---every penny of it.
..........Pray that the IRS calls you in and tries to disallow this. Tell them that you want a trial. See if they're willing to go to court over it. You can even file amended tax returns for previous years.
..........If the government doesn't have it, they don't have to worry about locking it up. Do your part to relieve them of this terrible burden and temptation.
..........If we all did it, it could be a lot like India's silent revolution. Where's Mahatma Gandhi when we need him?
