'Socialism' has been helping less-wealthy survive for 80 years

Are you over 65? Do you depend on receiving a monthly check from Social Security? Do you use Medicare? If you answered "yes" to these questions, guess what, you are part of a socialized system where you depend on the government to help meet your needs.

The GOP would have you believe that Social Security and Medicare is a "socialist's" way to get money out of your wallet and into freeloader’s pockets. Not true, you and your employer send a part of every paycheck into a fund (FICA) that sends back that money to you after you retire. If you don’t "pay it forward," it won’t be there when you retire.

This administration has stopped collecting the payroll taxes until the end of 2020. If re-elected, this president has promised to end it altogether. This is money that won’t be going into the Social Security or Medicare fund for use by current and future retirees and will render Social Security and Medicare bankrupt in the not-so-distant future.

So when you hear someone ranting about "socialism" taking over America, it all started during the Great Depression and has been helping the less-wealthy survive for over 80 years.

GIL BEYER

Sandpoint