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Norwood man troubled by railroad report

Posted 5/15/12

To the Editor: I am taking the time to write this to give people an idea how Railroad retirement works, because a Bill commonly known as the “Ryan Budget” sponsored by Budget Committee chairman …

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Norwood man troubled by railroad report

Posted

To the Editor:

I am taking the time to write this to give people an idea how Railroad retirement works, because a Bill commonly known as the “Ryan Budget” sponsored by Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) was passed in the US house of representatives which contains an accompanying report that proposes that Railroad Tier 1 should conform so that its benefits equal those of social security… with an estimated savings to taxpayers of 2 billion dollars over a 10 year period, as the savings to railroad retirement could then be injected into the social security fund.

This report is wrong! First of all, railroad retirement is private, paid for by railroad employees only- and benefits of Railroad Retirement are only paid to railroad employees and their families. It’s that simple. This budget report is depicting stealing what Railroad employees have rightfully organized, earned and sustained. The politicians responsible would like the public to believe somehow Railroad Retirement is a cost to taxpayers, it costs the tax payers nothing.

Railroad Retirement doesn’t require any fixing. Instead of trying to steal Railroad employee retirement money, why don’t these people model social security after the railroads system? For instance, they could start giving social security benefits only to people who have paid into it, according to what they contributed.

That’s how Railroad retirement functions, and how it’s become a desirable target for thieves. Whenever the topic of social security (and its failure) comes up, the answer is simple, reform it based on a system that works, instead they think they can just steal from a system that works.

Well even if they get away with it, even that money would run out and social security would be in trouble again, and maybe next time your own retirement might be the target.

The formal title of this bill is House Concurrent Resolution 112.

Rob Fiacco, Norwood