— The News Courier encourages letters to the editor. Submissions should be no more than 400 words and should include a name, address and telephone number for verification. Submissions that do not meet requirements are subject to editing. Send letters by noon on Thursdays to P.O. Box 670, Athens, AL, 35613, or email to kelly@athensnews-courier.com.

Stealing Social Security

Dear Editor:

I am so tired of some people being misinformed about Social Security because of brainwashing by the people in Washington that are supposed to represent us. Let me give a quick rundown of just what these wonderful people have done.

First Social Security was founded in 1935 in order to provide the working people a means of having a decent retirement pension by taking a certain amount out of everyone’s pay, and put into a trust fund just for the contributors to provide a decent living for them when they retired. Well, this worked out fine until 1965 when our president and both the Republicans and the Democrats decided to dishonor the trust fund and take our money and put it into the general fund where the Democrats and Republicans used the money to spend on their pet projects and leaving IOU's with no intention of ever paying it back.

They used our money to pay for the Vietnam War and when the illegal war was started in Iraq I think I can remember Bush saying we will need X number of dollars and we will take it from Social Security, “it's broke anyway all it has is IOU's.”

So now they call what we paid for an entitlement, and want people to think that the government has been paying for our Social Security. If there were any honest decent Democrats/Republicans in Washington they would stop lying and do the honorable thing and pay back (in my opinion) what they stole. As for entitlements, they are the ones that are getting them at the expense of the taxpayers.

So, now they are jumping up and yelling, let’s get rid of Social Security. I say, let's get rid of them and get someone that doesn't take bribes. Yes, I agree these very greedy persons have taken at least three trillion dollars from our Social Security since 1965, but don't forget about the interest that would probably be at least a trillion more. With this kind of money we could probably live like one of these millionaires that are trying to run for president.

Vote for the ones that will represent us, not the ones that want to destroy us!

Sincerely,

F.E. Morgan

Athens

Get country back

Dear Editor:

It’s the campaign year and the survival of this nation will depend upon who is elected to the presidency and Congress in November. The president’s appointed National Labor Relations board chairman has just made a very controversial statement. He wants to require all company presidents and business owners to provide the names and telephone numbers of all employees to any union that requests them. Shades of fascist Germany, communist Russia, and China. Obama wishes dictatorial domination of the people.

Obama wants to increase the nation’s debt by 1.2 trillion dollars more, but, to date, hasn’t submitted a budget as required. He feels he is above the law and has publicly stated that he will bypass the people’s Congress by issuing executive orders to accomplish his purposes. Obama wants to usurp all power of the people and assume it himself.

It’s time the people took back the powers of government along with control of their personal lives. We don’t need the president’s wife to dictate what we eat, the government tell us how to get insurance and what we must pay or else, raise taxes to provide funds to use to support those who have quit school and haven’t achieved any further education, mothers of illegitimate children, fund solar company failures, auto companies and banks, give billions to other countries that don’t economically benefit our country and citizens, etc. Obama’s Justice Department also refuses to enforce federal immigration laws and fights states illegal alien legislation while covering up illegal gun sales to drug cartels.

Our citizens want a government that operates like a normal middle class family does, not one with unlimited spending and doing whatever it wants. I received no government Pell grants or low cost government funding for my education, although my family was low income. I worked and went to school at the same time and received my BSBA and MBA degrees. Why should certain people, but not others, be able to get government funding for college?  Why have so many handouts? 

We can’t afford to be the world’s charity, both internationally and nationally, without something in return. How about community service by those receiving free housing, utilities, food debit cards, Pell grants, etc.  We, citizens, must get our country back.

Sincerely,

Quentin D. Anderson Sr.

Athens