FROM MY EMAIL: a little history of Social Security. Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary;

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program;

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year;

4.) That the money the participants put into the Independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the General Operating Fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other government program; and,

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the federal government to 'put away', you may be interested in the following:

Q: Which political party took Social Security from the Independent 'Trust Fund' and put it in to the General Fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratically- controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which political party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party .

Q: Which political party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the 'tie-breaking' deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the U.S.

Q: Which political party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

A: Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party.

Even though the email is clearly partisan, the lesson to be learned is nonpartisan: the Government is under no compulsion to honor the terms of a contract. Which is why I strongly favor privatization (it's also a better financial deal).