Ellak's Blog

I would like to share a bit of my life with you. My name is Ellak, some of you already know me but not my family. I was born in Cleveland in the mid 60’s, I have a beautiful wife and two wonderful children ages six & 10. I also have a Mother and Father I’m very lucky to have and I will tell you why. To do that I have to start with my grandparents that I never met. You see, I never met them because they were murdered while they lived in Budapest, Hungary. During World War 2, they were taken captive along with my Father by Nazi’s. They were put in a death camp for being nothing more then Jewish. My Grandparents were starved and lined up against a wall then shot in the head. My father a young child was still a prison slave, his job was to drag his parents dead bodies, My Grandparents to the oven were their bodies were burned to ashes. My father then was made to mix their ashes along with other Jews in tar to be spread on the ground to make roadways to kill more Jews. A few months later, the war ended and the Americans came and freed the remaining Jews along with my Father. This is where and when he met my mother. They were given over to the American Red Cross where they were sheltered, fed and clothed. They were offered the opportunity to come to America and become American citizens. They jumped at the opportunity for the land of opportunity, only to find more hardship. They came through Ellis Island N.Y. to find Jews were nothing more then trash and just another homless mouth to feed in a already strained economy. They lived were they could and ate what they could. They ate scraps and canned cat or dog food whenever someone would toss them some change. They eventually found a sponsor here in Cleveland that would house them long enough to get on their feet. They found it difficult to find work or bank loans to help them buy a house.  Nobody wanted a Jew in the “Nationhood”. They must of felt hate at the world, Yet they never complained. Instead they channeled that anger into motivation to get their lives back, and they eventually did. They got married and had me. They always reminded me of what they went through growing up and vowed to never let it happen to me. They always taught me the ugliness and cruelty of racism, and to never feel sorry for yourself, No one cares about how you got here, just where you go in life.  They eventually started a small business selling clothing my mother & father found or was given and brought them back to life to sell, assuming that would be the only way to find money from lack of jobs due to the hatred of Jews.  The business grew and they did well for themselves. It gave me a life I can’t complain about. They always told me never show your hatred for others. Instead always keep your head high with pride and show those who hate you and want to see you fail, you can overcome and prevail. The best revenge in life is proving you are capable of achieving what others want you to fail. Your Grandparents Died as slaves so you can live, never forget that, no one else will care, so I never forgot. I married my wife who most may call her a minority, I call her my life and savior. We had two kids and here I am telling you my story. I lived through true racism in my family. I would never want to see another family go through what mine did. Regardless of race or origin. Young Americans today feel they are discriminated against At times they blame me along with others, only because of skin color, it is all they know about me. Needless to say I’m shocked when it happens. I say to whoever feels discriminated against to remember my story and racism will not bring you down but make you strong. Be that success you know you can be. No one cares where you came from, only where you are going. And if you had slaves in your family heritage such as I did, don’t let them down! They died as slaves so you can live, be proud and succeed. Live the life they died for so you can succeed and make them proud as they look down apone you. Put hate aside and channel it into motivation, make yourself and your forefathers proud. Racism everyone hates! So lead the way and never play the racist racial game. The title to this Post is Should I be a Racist? The answer is No way! Nor should you. Please have a happy New Year and remember what it signifies. Another year of Your freedom to succeed.

Fact - Social Security is entirely solvent and will pay full benefits at least through 2042.

Fact - The Social Security trust fund has accumulated a surplus of more than $1.5 trillion. That occurred because the fund collected more in payroll taxes from our paychecks than it paid out in benefit checks.

Fact - 48 million Americans now receive monthly Social Security checks. Of those, 38% are the disabled, and widows and their children. The remainder are retirees. More than 5 million children receive part of their family income from Social Security.

Fact - The current US Social Security program is a model of financial efficiency both for the government and for banks and businesses, in that 99% of all payroll taxes paid into the trust fund are paid out as benefits. Administrative overhead to run the program is only 1% of all monies paid in by us.

Fact - In 2018 at earliest, monthly benefit checks sent out will be higher than the monthly payroll taxes collected by the Social Security trust fund. However, the surplus will keep growing until 2028 because of the interest that the Social Security trust fund earns in US Treasury Bonds.

Fact - If nothing at all is done to “reform” social security, it will still be able to pay 70% of full benefits after 2042, at worst case.

Fact - In 75 years at the earliest, if nothing at all is done to reform Social Security, it could run a deficit of up to $3.7 trillion. Not $10 trillion.

Fact - Payroll taxes (called FICA) are now withheld from US workers' paychecks on the first $97,000 of their annual incomes. That means that if a person earns $400,000 a year, he pays exactly the same FICA as the person who earns $97,000 a year. (This is called a payroll tax cap, because it's capped at $97,000.)

Fact - If the payroll tax cap was raised to $200,000 per year, there would be NO Social Security funding gap for more than 100 years.

Fact - When President Bush states that he will not raise taxes to "reform" Social Security, that means he will not ask the wealthy to pay more because he refuses to raise the payroll tax cap.

Fact - President Bush proposes that Americans be allowed to invest part of their payroll taxes into private saving accounts that would be invested in stocks. These accounts are like 401(K) accounts. This is called "privatization."

Fact - By diverting payroll taxes away from being paid to the Social Security trust fund, Social Security would no longer be able to pay full benefits. Benefit cuts would range from about 15% to 46%. Most economists project that diverting payroll taxes way from the trust fund will result in the phasing out altogether of Social Security.

Fact - President Bush said in 2005 the initial cost to American taxpayers for privatizing Social Security will be $2 trillion!!!

Fact - Privatized accounts will be reduced as much as 20% to 30% by fees charged by investment bankers, trustees and account administrators. This occurred in Great Britain, Chile and other countries that adopted privatization. In both Great Britain and Chile, privatizing Social Security has been judged a failure because retirees' benefits were greatly decreased by "fees."

Fact - The Security Industry Assn wrote in a 2005 research paper that its member firms will collect at least $39 billion in fees over 75 years from privatized accounts. This $39 billion will be taken directly out of retirees' retirement funds.

Fact - The President’s privatization proposals are not intended to and are unable to "fix" any shortages in the Social Security trust fund.

The real truth is that conservatives have historically detested and attempted to undermine Social Security since Franklin Roosevelt established it in the dark days of the Depression. Conservatives derided it then, and they do now, as an entitlement, akin to welfare. They forget that Americans PAY for their benefits.

Final Fact - Most Americans believe that Social Security should NOT be privatized. There are many excellent, modest proposals to shore up Social Security long-term, that involve raising payroll taxes and/or making very minor benefits cuts decades from now. (And those proposals don't cost $2 trillion.) Until then, most Americans see no reason to "reform" a reliable, trustworthy system that's not broken