AARP stifling future of Social Security

To the editor:

I couldn’t help but write after reading Carla Sloan’s letter praising AARP for its “long history of supporting changes that will strengthen health and retirement security in America” (“AARP fights for responsible solutions,” Sunday Review-Journal). As AARP Nevada’s director, she is continuing to spew the lies coming from AARP’s national headquarters. AARP is an organization whose philosophy coincides with the Democratic Party refusal to change and improve Social Security and Medicare. AARP doesn’t want to change Social Security, and anytime serious recommendations are proposed, it opposes them.

Just ask former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, who was part of a federal deficit reduction committee that also aimed to improve Social Security. Sensible recommendations from the commission to stop Social Security from going broke in 2036 were met with outright anger from AARP executives. AARP fights any changes to Social Security and Medicare, and it was behind the push for the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare. This came even after learning that millions of dollars would be diverted from Medicare to help pay for the new health care program.

At last week’s AARP convention, there was likely high praise for Sen. Harry Reid, who continues to con the American public that Social Security and Medicare are doing fine, that no changes need to be made and that there is a real Social Security trust fund. AARP refuses to level with its members that there is no real money in the Social Security trust fund. AARP won’t admit that if changes aren’t made, younger generations will not get out as much money as they put in.

In 1981, Galveston County, Texas, opted out of the Social Security program and set up an alternative retirement program for its employees. As a result, the Galveston plan has a guaranteed annual return average of 3.75 to 4 percent; it has been as high as 7 percent and has hovered around 5 percent the past decade. The plan allows employees to be more involved with their retirement planning, and with a guaranteed rate of return.

The sad fact is that two out of three seniors depend on Social Security for most of their income, and one-third rely on it for at least 90 percent of their retirement income. This amounts to an average benefit of $13,000 a year, less than full-time minimum-wage work. American citizens have either done little planning for their retirement or believed that Social Security would take care of them in their retirement years. AARP continues with the con that Social Security is great for us and needs no real changes.

MICHAEL O. KREPS

LAS VEGAS

One gun slip-up

To the editor:

In Ed McSwain’s letter to the editor (“Gun in a crowded room,” May 29 Review-Journal), he says, “I know hundreds of concealed carry permit holders here in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Not one of them carries a firearm on their waistband, unless it is in a holster.”

Well, apparently Mr. McSwain does not know Angelo Lista, who also has a concealed carry permit. Mr. Lista discovered his loaded pistol was missing after being on a ride at Disney World.

As reported by The Associated Press, Mr. Lista, told authorities that his weapon “just slipped out” of his back pocket because the ride was “extremely bumpy,” according to WOFL-TV.

Unfortunately, it only takes one. We might not be able to fix stupid, but at least we can make it harder to be stupid.

BOB LITT

LAS VEGAS

The fourth branch

To the editor:

Jonathan Turley’s premise in his article Sunday, “The rise of the fourth branch,” is that we have begun a new regulatory age where the bureaucracy of government has run amok. To illustrate the problem he asserts that, “In 1962, there were 2,515,000 federal employees. Today, we have 2,840,000 federal workers.”

In 1962, there were about 187 million Americans; today there are more than 316 million, a population increase of over 40 percent. During that same time period, the total number of federal workers went up by only 11 percent. By his own numbers, on a per capita basis, the total number of federal workers has actually shrunk, from 1.3 percent of the total population to less than 0.9 percent of the population.

During this time, the top income tax rates have also dropped from 91 percent for the top earners to the current 39.5 percent. Perhaps one of the reasons the federal government doesn’t appear to function as well as it might have 50 years ago is that we are effectively “starving the beast” of resources. We tend to get what we pay for, in government as well as in the private sector.

TRENT BILLINGSLEY

BLUE DIAMOND

Driver privilege cards

To the editor:

I see a very positive aspect to the new driver privilege cards. As I understand current rules for police in the valley, they’re not able to inquire about residency status when someone is pulled over. When someone produces one of these cards, it’s obvious what their status is, without even asking about it.

This should allow any police officer to make an immediate arrest of the illegal immigrant and hold them for deportation. When a card is produced, it’s a volunteer admission of that driver’s residency status, which should lead to an immediate arrest.

STANLEY SCHONE

LAS VEGAS