A large number of senior citizens (55 and older) live in Curry County, Oregon. And many of them receive Social Security. Chances are, though, they are not receiving the dollar amount of monthly payments they deserve. Over the last 40 plus years, the American worker has been underpaid, based upon the actual increase in productivity of American workers during that same time period. In fact, if American worker productivity was reflected in wages, today’s minimum wage would be $24/hour and politically we are just trying to reach $15, at most.

By the way, if you were a female worker during those years, you got an additional cut in pay based upon your gender!

If wages had been paid based on productivity, today’s senior citizens would have made more money during their working years, paid more in social security taxes (FICA taxes) during those years and today would be getting more money in Social Security payments each month.

To put it bluntly, both the senior citizens in Curry County and senior citizens throughout the country were wage robbed.

Who got this money? The richest people and corporations – the proverbial one percent.

I say it is now time to redress this imbalance and give senior citizens a raise by increasing monthly Social Security benefits.

So what can we do to give Seniors that raise and even increase the solvency of the Social Security Trust fund for say an additional 25 years? We can get the rich and the rich corporations to pay back the robbed wages through very easy taxation.

The Democrats in Congress and the Democratic candidate for President Hillary Clinton have suggested several new revenue streams to bolster Social Security and increase benefits to seniors. One suggestion is to Scrap the Cap that currently exempts wages over $250,000 from being taxed for FICA purposes. If people like Beyonce and football stars and bankers and oil company execs and everyone making over $250,000 suddenly had to pay FICA taxes on those wages, billions of additional dollars would be collected into the Social Security Trust Fund.

Another idea is to start collecting FICA taxes from non-wage income, commonly called passive income. Again this would basically affect only the richest among us and generate billions of additional dollars for Social Security, while still allowing these same people to continue enjoying their multiple houses, yachts, cars and the “good” life.

Should woman recipients of Social Security benefits get a larger increase compared to men? Maybe, to make up for the underpaying due to gender bias. But the important thing is to correct the major economic imbalance and give Seniors the raise they deserve.

If you think your parents or you, yourself, deserve a raise like this, tell Congress to increase Social Security benefits. And if the Republicans won’t help get this done, elect Democrats this fall 2016.

Here are a couple of books on the subject that you might want to check out:

Social Security Works!: Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All



A growing chorus of prominent voices in Congress and elsewhere are calling for the expansion of our Social Security system—people who know that Social Security will not “go broke” and does not add a penny to the national debt. Social Security Works! will amplify these voices and offer a powerful antidote to the three-decade-long, billionaire-funded campaign to make us believe that this vital institution is destined to collapse. It isn’t.

From the Silent Generation to Baby Boomers, from Generation X to Millennials and Generation Z, we all have a stake in understanding the real story about Social Security. Critical to addressing the looming retirement crisis that will affect two- thirds of today’s workers, Social Security is a powerful program that can help stop the collapse of the middle class, lessen the pressure squeezing families from all directions, and help end the upward redistribution of wealth that has resulted in perilous levels of inequality.

All Americans deserve to have dignified retirement years as well as an umbrella to protect them and their families in the event of disability or premature death. Sure to be a game-changer, Social Security Works! cogently presents the issues and sets forth both an agenda and a political strategy that will benefit us all. At stake are our values and the kind of country we want for ourselves and for those that follow.


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Expand Social Security Now!: How to Ensure Americans Get the Retirement They Deserve



Social Security is bankrupting us. It’s outdated. It’s a Ponzi scheme. It’s stealing from young people. These are some of the biggest myths and lies about one of the most successful programs in our nation’s history.

Three-quarters of Americans depend heavily on Social Security in their elderly years and nearly half would be living in poverty without it. But as important and popular as it is, Social Security has become a political football. A well-financed campaign—supported by conservatives, special interest groups, and even leading Democrats—has lobbied for cuts and significant “entitlement reform,” falsely proclaiming that Social Security is going broke.

Policy expert Steven Hill argues that Social Security should not only be defended, it should be substantially expanded. Here he proposes how we can double the monthly benefit and how to pay for it by closing many of the tax loopholes and deductions that disproportionately favor the wealthy few.


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