JOHN RIIS-CHRISTENSEN: History lesson on Social Security

Here is a small history lesson on Social Security. FDR, a Democrat, started it. He said it was completely voluntary and people getting into it would pay only 1 percent of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the program and that money would be tax-deductible. This 1 percent would be placed into an independent trust fund. Annuity payments would never be taxed. That 1 percent has turned into 7.65 percent on the first $90,000 you pay into the system.

President Lyndon B. Johnson and a Democratic Congress took Social Security payments and put them into the general fund. The Democrats eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security withholding. Under Bill Clinton, the Democrats voted to tax Social Security annuities. Now 85 percent of your Social Security is taxed.

Which party has been messing with Social Security until it is near collapse? It doesn't start with an R.

JOHN RIIS-CHRISTENSEN

Atwater