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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2002)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR 97523, September 11, 2002 From the e-mail bag Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during elec- tion years. Our senators and con- gressmen do not pay into So- cial Security, and of course, they do not collect from it. Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt that they should have a special plan for them- selves. Many years ago they voted in their own special benefit plan. In more recent years, no congressman has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they con- tinue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. For example, former Sen. Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000 (that’s seven million, eight hundred thou- sand), with their wives draw- ing $275,000 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each. Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. Nada. Zilch. This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Fund -- our tax dollars at work. From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay ( or have paid) into -- every payday un- til we retire (which amount is matched by our employer) -- we can expect to get an aver- age $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our av- erage of $1,000 monthly bene- fits for 68 years and one month to equal Sen. Bill Brad- ley’s benefits. Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. And that change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the senators and congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us and then watch how fast they would fix it. If enough people read this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted. BLM appoints Elaine Marquis Brong has been sworn in as the new Bu- reau of Land Management (BLM) state director for Ore- gon and Washington by Kath- leen Clarke, BLM director. The ceremony took place at the Medford District Office. Brong has been with BLM for 23 years. Prior to her ap- pointment as the state director for Oregon and Washington, she served as director for BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System Office in Washington, D.C. She held several positions in California, including acting associate state director, deputy state director for support ser- vices, and branch chief for biological resources. Brong also has worked in Kingman, Ariz. as the area manager; and in the bureau’s Eastern States Office in Springfield, Va. as a program analyst and as an organiza- tional and employee develop- ment specialist. Before joining BLM, Brong worked in the private sector; was a seasonal em- ployee for the National Park Service; and spent two years in El Salvador as a Peace Corps volunteer. She holds a degree in biology from the University of Maine. Page 17