I am glad to read that Rep. Mayra Flores, R-San Benito, is co-sponsoring House Resolution 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021, which was introduced by Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., to repeal the windfall elimination provision. This bill would restore the fairness taken away by the WEP and government pension offset.
How does WEP work? Well, if you turn 62 in 2022 and you have 20 years of substantial earnings, WEP reduces your monthly benefit by $512. It’s amazing to me that WEP and GPO punishes police officers, firefighters and educators.
If you worked, saved and earned your pension while paying into Social Security, it’s your money and should not be taken away by the government.
The socialist Democrat Party controls both houses of Congress and the executive branch, yet they have failed to bring this bill to the floor for a vote while they vote to give billions of dollars to Ukraine and forgive student loans. My question is why.
Perhaps Mr. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, the current representative of District 15 but running as a candidate in District 34, can enlighten us.
As Mr. Tim Lee, executive director of the Texas Retired Teachers Association, has said, retired teachers are currently losing hundreds of dollars a month in much-needed Social Security benefits.
This issue basically comes down to fairness. It seems the socialist Democrat Party has no interest in this bill. After all, this is money that has been earned through hard work and savings.
If this bill passes, firefighters, law enforcement officers and public schoolteachers would keep their Social Security benefits and their pensions in full.
It’s interesting; I saw a political advertisement saying that Rep. Flores was going to eliminate Social Security and it reminded me of the old Soviet Union propaganda I would see when I was in West Berlin in the early 1970s. So, I am glad to hear that our Representative Flores is co-sponsoring H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2021.
Carlos Cantu
Brownsville
Commercials
spur criticism
Television commercials today have marketing “science” behind their messages. Entertainment-style ads assume the consumer won’t buy unless first entertained. LiMu Emu and Doug, for example, entertain for Liberty Mutual. A marketing department must compete in being funny in order to win market share.
Bonehead commercials are designed for consumers who didn’t pay much attention in school. These are especially important for football fans who missed the part about words having different definitions and contexts. So, we have quarterback Patrick Mahomes disclosing to an insurance salesman the very personal information that he is a bath bomb lover in order to get the “personal” rate from State Farm.
Other ads try to increase interest in non-sexy industries and brands by associating them with sexy industries. So, we find Bounty “quicker picker-upper” paper towels saving a winning lottery ticket from a spilled soft drink.
You gotta love declining America. Capitalism will be the last system still standing. No one will remember it did little to save the others.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
