August 13, 2008

Re: Obama's 'no income taxes on seniors' draws critics

By ANDREW TAYLOR

Taylor wrote, “They (tax policy experts in Washington) see it as another subsidy for senior citizens, who already get federal help through Social Security and Medicare and often have economic advantages over other demographic groups.”

“Seniors typically have paid off their mortgages. Many have investments and usually don't pay taxes on their Social Security benefits. The kids are usually grown, so they're not saddled with day care or college costs.”

"The odds are the retired folks _ they're getting pensions, they're getting Social Security, they have investment assets, they own a house _ so ... they're better off than somebody who is 30 or 40 years younger who's trying to buy a house (and) trying to start saving," said Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy for Deloitte Tax.”

I don’t know who this Taylor author and Stretch guy is, but they are obviously not senior citizens living on a fixed income from the 1980s who has to do without just to may basic survival items, such as gasoline, electricity, groceries, medicine, doctors, house payments, car payments, vehicle and home insurances, life insurances and other necessities of life.

Taylor sounds like someone who would euphonize everyone over 65. He forgets that most of us worked from before daylight until after dark for five to six and seven days a week for well over forth years and we paid our Social Security taxes, income taxes, sales taxes and medicare taxes for well over forth years while raising our families without complaining.

First, Social Security and Medicare isn’t “another subsidy for senior citizens” we paid for it and we paid to take care of Taylor’s grandparents in their senior years when they were not physically able to work the fifty to sixty hours a week like they had all their lives, usually from childhood like I worked on the farm. We don’t “already get federal help through Social Security and Medicare” we worked hard to pay for it and a tax premium is deducted from our Social Security payments monthly before we get anything, and it is our money just as much as it is Taylor’s or the Federal government. We paid over 40 years...he has not!

Second, most seniors have had to mortgage their homes to pay off other debt like high prices prescription drugs, medical and hospital bill that Medicare doesn’t pay for and most people 30 or 40 years younger don't have in the first place, car payments and gasoline so they can get to their doctors, hospitals and grocery store. Taylor says, “Many have investments and usually don't pay taxes on their Social Security benefits.” What investments and savings? He doesn’t know squat, far more than the many he says don’t have investments and do pay taxes on their SS benefits, which they have already paid tax on once when they were working. They still pay sales taxes, property taxes and many other hidden taxes even though we are retired. In the first place why should we seniors pay tax twice on the same earned income?

He also says, “The kids are usually grown, so they're not saddled with day care or college costs.” Oh is that right? Thats news to we senors who care enough about our children and grand children to help them when we can afford to and certainly help when they are in need in emergencies. Yes, our kids are grown but we have many more grand and great grand children than we ever had kids and because of the low paying jobs and high cost of school and college seniors, at least those seniors who care about their families, unlike Taylor, help with school and college costs of their grandchildren.

And finally, Taylor wrote, "The odds are the retired folks _ they're getting pensions, they're getting Social Security, they have investment assets, they own a house _ so ... they're better off than somebody who is 30 or 40 years younger who's trying to buy a house (and) trying to start saving, said Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy for Deloitte Tax.” Taylor and Stretch need to have to stretch a dollar to buy groceries, a few gallons of gasoline to get to their doctor before they shoot off their ungrateful mouths.

Many senior citizens have no company pension. The few who do have a pension know they typically pay below the standard of living, don’t have any or a very low cost of living increase and aren’t sufficient to pay the typical basic survival bills of many senior citizens. It would be nice if all senior retirees were as well off financially as Taylor and Stretch think we are. They have their heads in the clouds and their hands in we senior's pockets...

If Taylor thinks we citizens are better off than he, at 30 to 40 years younger, let him and Stretch walk in we senior’s shoes for a while before damning us for living long enough to retire. Most of us were never able to “start savings in the first place” and don’t have any savings now thanks to high prices and taxes as well of the cost of raising our own children and putting them through school, little alone paying for their college! I feel sorry for his and Stretch’s parents, grand parents, aunts and uncles if they don’t have the necessary income to maintain a moral survival senior standard of living if they are retired on their own because they need not expect any help from Taylor or Stretch or the Feds who the had rather have we senior’s money to spend than us, or maybe Taylor and Stretch just intend to shove their relatives off into an old age home and forget them…

Dumb statements and dumb article by two dumb people that does nothing but push seniors over to Obama’s side of the field…and I am a McCain supporter!

Al Barrs, Retired

Bascom, Florida

albarrs@wfeca.net