A Brief History
On January 31, 2018, we celebrate National Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day, one of those many days you find all over the internet that seem to have no specific origin. Well, this cowboy does not celebrate this particular “holiday,” because of the JERK (or jerks) that came up with the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) that cheats people like me out of half their social security! Today we list 7 Jerks of the Month.
Digging Deeper
1. WEP (Congress).
How can our country celebrate social security when so many people are getting so thoroughly shampooed by the government? Part of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 (Remember the Reagan “tax cuts?” Those helped the rich and screwed the working people. Sound familiar?) the so called “windfall” they refer to is a “government pension,” such as military, state or local service, such as police, fire, teaching, government clerk, etc. These jobs do not deduct social security from the checks of the employees, but many of these people had other jobs that did, or part-time jobs while earning the “government pension.” On the income that had social security taxes deducted, that person’s social security check would reflect the amount that retiree put into the system, just like everyone else, except the WEP says the government will reduce the social security check amount by up to 50%. On the other hand, someone that retired from a UAW job or other job that has a good pension collects their entire social security amount. What is the difference between my police pension and a UAW pension? My SS amount is based only on that amount I paid in, so if it were not for WEP I would get about $800 per month, but I will in fact get only $400, which is out and out stealing from me! As if this could not get worse, the spouse of anyone affected by WEP also gets dinged the same way, even if they worked their whole life paying into social security! Our senators and congressmen are constantly telling us they are “working on it” but we see no results year after year, so the whole damn lot of them can be jerks of the month! Keeping social security viable is as easy as raising the earnings limit for deductions, or removing the cap, but that would tax only rich people…
2. The NFL.
This gang of jerks has once again failed to face the social “crisis” of their players kneeling for the National Anthem and has announced players will not be ordered to stand for the Super Bowl version of the anthem. Plus, the gutless goofs are not steadfast in their beliefs enough to show their players kneeling and will not even televise the players during the National Anthem. Make a decision and own it, you gutless jerks! Either force players to obey their contract and stand for the anthem or allow them to kneel if you think that action is a sacred right and show that you think that way. My goodness what a bunch of sissies! (Note: We are not taking sides this time and are not calling the players jerks, just the NFL execs that have no convictions.)
Update: Late information has surfaced that the NFL is willing to allow television audiences to see players kneeling if those players so choose. It is not known if any players are planning on kneeling for the anthem.
Update #2: The Eagles won the Super Bowl in perhaps the most exciting game in the history of the big event, and no players knelt during the National Anthem. Unfortunately, the Eagles came out to the music of convicted felon and jailed musician Meek Mill in support of this poor example for America’s youth. What were they thinking? Apparently there is feeling among some, especially in the African American community that Mr. Mill is wrongfully imprisoned too long (2 to 4 years) for a “trivial” offense, that being a probation violation (positive drug test and unauthorized travel) of his original charge of gun and drug felonies. This criminal has at least 4 other parole violations and has assaulted police, so it is ridiculous and shameful that the NFL would allow such a sociopath to be honored!
3. Representative Nunes/McCarthy.
This guy is boasting about a memo that allegedly exposes the FBI as a corrupt, partisan organization out to get President Trump, failing completely to acknowledge the overwhelming Republican leaning of the people in the FBI, and the fact that James Comey virtually gave the 2016 election to Trump by announcing the Hillary Clinton email investigation was reopened, even though Bureau policy and Comey’s own policy was not to comment on ongoing investigations. Does this remind you of Senator Joe McCarthy waving around a mysterious list of “communists” in government that nobody ever got to see? Neither President Trump nor the entire Congress has seen the memo, nor has the public. Plus, Nunes is impugning the character and patriotism of an entire organization renowned for their character and patriotism, undermining law enforcement when he claims to be a supporter of law enforcement. Just now (January 29) the news reported the decision by Nunes and the Republican majority on the House Intelligence Committee to release the secret memo, but without the FBI or Justice Department being allowed to go over document to redact secret information first! Additionally, in a blatant partisan hypocritical maneuver, Nunes is refusing to allow a counter Democratic memo to be released simultaneously and will force the Democrat memo to be release a few days later in order to give the Republican memo the maximum opportunity for political effect. The heart of the Republican memo concerns the FISA warrant that gave the FBI permission to wiretap Carter Page, a Trump consultant, based partly on the infamous “Steele Dossier.” The implication is that the warrant thus obtained is tainted because of the dossier being partly financed by Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign, even though it was initiated by Republican opponents of Trump. Democrats claim the Republican memo is incomplete and out of context (intentionally) to give a false impression of impropriety and that their own memo is necessary to provide fair counterbalance, but Nunes is having none of the fair play and despite having recused himself from the Russia interference with the election of 2016 probe, is blatantly injecting himself and politics into the work of the Committee. Update: On Friday, February 2, 2018, the infamous Republican “memo” was made public. It’s content was not very news worthy at all, basically just saying that a FISA search warrant (for wire tapping Carter Page) was granted partially on information from the “Steele Dossier” partly paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC, and that the application for the warrant did not tell the FISA judge who had paid for the dossier. This fact, if true (because we don’t even know that it is true), is insignificant to the point of irrelevance.
4. Turpin Parents.
Discovered on January 14, 2018, parents David and Louise Turpin were holding their 13 children captive in horrific conditions in their Perris, California home. Many of those kids (age 2 to 29) had been confined for many years, some shackled to their beds. Virtually all were malnourished and underweight, and none had received normal education. These weirdo parents also tortured and tormented their children, teasing them with food that was not provided. The oldest “child,” age 29, weighed a pathetic 82 pounds! The Turpins were discovered after a child escaped and dialed 911 on a cell phone, allowing responding officers to look on with horror at the horrible conditions of the Turpin home. David had married Louise when David was 23 and Louise was only 16. Incredibly, David is a college graduate (but unlike our normal enthusiasm for listing the alma mater of people we write about, we will not debase that university by naming it this time), and the couple has been associated with religious zealots. Part of the routine in the Turpin home was forcing the kids to memorize and recite Bible passages. (David and Louise are Pentecostals aligned with the “Quiverfull Movement.”) Their religious beliefs led them to have as many children as they could produce. Another amazing fact about these goofs, is that David had a good job with Northrup Grumman, making about $140,000 per year, but still went bankrupt in 2011. In a classic case of failure to report an obvious problem, neighbors that checked out a residence that the Turpins moved out from in 2010 found a home full of feces, dead cats and dogs, garbage piled up, and most disturbingly, ropes attached to the beds. And yet these geniuses did not report their finding to authorities! David and Louise are facing many criminal charges and are in custody. Please look at their photos and tell us if you think they look a little nutty…
5. President Potty-mouth.
On January 11 President Trump was hosting members of congress to discuss immigration reform, when he shocked (why would anyone be shocked?) those in the room by referring to African and other third world countries as “sh*thole” countries and going on to ask why do we need more people from Haiti and Africa, and that we should instead get immigrants from places such as Norway. Since Norway is a very, very, White country, and the African nations referred to and Haiti are overwhelmingly Black, the racial overtones were stunning. We find it hard to denounce anyone for using profanity, but the President of the US should seriously take his role as an icon and role model to heart and avoid blurting such hateful things in public. Respecting bluntness is one thing, but such a total lack of self-control and public decency is disturbing. Teddy Roosevelt said it quite well, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” but Trump speaks loudly and carries empty threats. Which one is on Mt. Rushmore?
6. Christian Thomas McCall.
What is up with naming people “Christian?” This jerk is nothing of the sort! When police responded to the McCall residence because this “Christian” was beating his woman, McCall opened fire on the cops, killing Detective Michael Doty (York County, South Carolina Sherriff’s Department) and wounding 3 other officers in an ambush as the police searched for him before McCall was hit and taken into custody. Think of it, this creep killed a cop and wounded 3 others and the police took him into custody alive! Kudos to those police for maintaining their professionalism under extreme provocation. McCall also shot at and hit a police helicopter that was assisting in the search for him. This “Christian” idiot is a White Supremacist with extreme beliefs, you know, like Christ taught… (Dishonorable mention to the other cop killers in January 2018.)
7. US Congress.
Once again Congress failed to get together and pass a long-term budget, leading to a government shutdown from January 20 to 22, 2018. When it was ended, it was only with a lousy 2+ week continuing budget that merely puts off reaching a real accord. It is hard to believe that Congress could get any lower an approval rating (Gallup Poll) than the 16% it started January 2018 with, but after failing once again to get a real budget passed, we are looking at another government shut down when the next deadline comes up on February 8, 2018. The sad fact is that Congress actually had months to agree to a budget, instead of jumping through hoops at the last minute. President Trump, also experiencing historically low approval ratings (but not as bad as Congress!) did little to help the situation. Remember back in October of 2001 when Congress had an 84% approval rating by the American Public? Wow, a lifetime ago…
Question for students (and subscribers): What jerks would you add to this list? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Petersen, Jonathan. Social Security for Dummies. AARP, 2017.
