I need info on Social Security Benefits

[sweetladybug]

My rightwing daughter-in-law said some Democratic Senator wants black people to get more money in Social Security benefits than white people since their life expectancy is shorter than white people's . I know this is bullshit but what could she be talking about?

[Vincardog]

1. aWoL brought up the unfairness of it all

Black folks have a shorter life expectancy so the current SSI plan is unfair. When I look to the Idiot Bush for fairness you can sign me up for the Koo laid.

[otohara]

2. Bush is Using This Issue

for political gains with blacks. He's the one using this issue, I don't know what dem she is talking about.


Bush said blacks don't live as long the other day in some staged town meeting - the liar Bush doesn't tell the real reason - being blacks have more infant mortality vs whites and violent deaths higher for young black men.

Absolutely nothing to do with growing old.

[kdmorris]

3. She may be talking about

the fact that one of the reasons they want to "fix" Social Security is that the "life expectancy is longer". I've brought up the fact that tying life expectancy to benefits is unfair, since there are different life expectancies for different races and genders.

I'm sure that some Congressperson probably said the same thing and it was misconstrued by the RW Nut-jobs. All I was trying to say (and I'm sure whatever Congressperson said it was probably saying the same thing) is that if we are going to talk about tying life expectancy to when Americans can start collecting benefits, we should talk about the fact that the average life expectancy for a black man isn't even 60 years old.

[CindyDale]

4. It was a Republican congressman who said that African Americans

don't get the same benefits as others because their life expectancy is lower. In fact, he is not really correct because it all basically equals out with African Americans tending to become disabled at an earlier age.

The congressman was Bill Thomas, a Republican from California. He also wanted women to get less because they live longer.

Nice guy, huh?

Privatization would hurt everyone.

[amazona]

5. she's just talking through her rear end

Black women outlive white men, so the whole argument is bogus to begin with.

There was some claim made by idiots that families don't get any money if the worker dies before retirement. This is not true. When black men die too young -- when anyone dies too young -- his survivors do get a benefit from Social Security.

My friend's father died while he was in high school, and Social Security allowed his mother to keep their home with him and his other four siblings fed inside it. So...while it is true that the dead don't collect Social Security, their dependents most certainly do get a benefit.

Yet we see over and over again that black families don't get any benefit when the head of household dies before retirement. It's just one of those big lies that I guess gets spread around because the stupid people will believe it?

Now if black families are truly unaware of their rights and not collecting benefits they are entitled to, certainly I would support a program to educate them about collecting their full benefits.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[kittykitty]

6. See Paul Krugman,"Little Black Lies" NY Times 1/26/05. It is one

Edit to provide link

of those article in the archive you have to pay for now, so just Google it, and it's probably somewhere. Most likely on TRUTHOUT.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905E.shtml