Necessary Roughness

David Hogberg of The American Spectator exposes some hypocrisy by the AARP; while they are more than willing to let AARP seniors invest their Social Security checks in the stock market, they are buying ads that discourage the President from changing the system to allow us 30-year-olds to invest our future earnings. Thanks.

Ida May Fuller drew the first Social Security check in 1940. She paid into the system for three years, contributing $24.75. Over the next 35 years, living to be 100, she collected $22,888.92. While we can’t say that she got something for nothing, she did get a lot for not very much. Because of this act of generosity by our government to the first Social Security generation, no matter how any legislation alters the program, unless people get 100% of their earnings into their own accounts (and if that happens, no government intervention is even necessary), somebody will get nothing for something.