Social Security

The following is from an article (Times, Oct. 5), “House Panel Votes for Tax on Jobless Pay”:

“The committee also eliminated from its proposal a $1,500 deduction for legal expenses incurred in adopting a handicapped child, but it decided to add a subsidy to the Social Security program that would benefit most such parents.” (The emphasis is mine.)

The article also reports a proposal to tax jobless benefits (unemployment insurance) to their full amount. As Rep. Brian Donnelly (D-Mass.) commented, “We agree to raise $2.3 million from people who don’t have jobs.”

These steps are typical of what many of us have been complaining about for some time--the tacking onto the Social Security program of items that have nothing to do with retirement benefits , and the manipulating of the tax structure to bleed those least able to carry the burden.

I suggest all young people cut out that article, keep it handy, and re-read it the next time their deductions for Social Security contributions are raised, or the paper publishes the latest list of those firms that take in billions but pay no taxes. They could, of course, also write their representatives demanding that the Social Security fund be separated from the general budget, so they can tell what is really being done with much of the money collected.

LILLIAN MONEY

Manhattan Beach