Dear Editor:

I was born in 1932. Times were hard. I am a Christian of the Baptist faith, and I believe what the Bible says. I believe all the words of the Holy Bible. I was lucky that my father and mother owned a small farm where I was raised up to believe that you earned your bread by the sweat of your brow.

My mother and father struggled to send me through high school. It wasn’t easy. After graduating from Franklin County High School, my parents informed me that that’s the best they could do. If I wanted more, the world was out there to get what part of it I could. I joined the Navy in 1951 and served two years on the USS Midway. I was honorably discharged after four years of service.

After the Navy, I went to work inspecting 155-mm shell projectors, then I was hired out into the oilfield, where you earned your bread by the sweat of your brow. After retirement, I joined the American Legion, and was told to get my VA card.

I answered all of the questions honestly and was denied because I did not qualify for veterans’ benefits. I was interviewed and denied a claim because of what I had saved my whole life. Our federal government passed a law that you had to have under a certain amount to qualify for VA benefits. Put my name in the computer so that I will get an American flag by the way of the U.S. government.

I can see back over the years how our government spends the taxpayers’ money that doesn’t belong to it – it belongs to the people. Where is the principle of this coming from? Mrs. Ida Mae Fuller received the first Social Security benefits in May 1940. In 1966, other countries owed the good old USA billions of dollars that was either wrote off or forgiven. Finland was the only country that paid off their debt.

In 1982, there were over 152 billion U.S. dollars in the Social Security benefits fund. Now look what it has come to. All of this is my opinion, and I believe in the principles of the Bible. The answer to this, my friend, is going to Him.

When you spend more than you earn, you are headed for disaster.

Sincerely

C.W. Steele

Smithdale