Being Frank about giving aid to our enemies

Did you hear about the Nazis who were drawing Social Security? Don't wait for the punch line. It's not a joke and sadly it wasn't one of the lead stories reported last week.
On Tuesday and Thursday of the same week as the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. House and Senate passed nearly identical bills that would close a loophole allowing the Social Security Administration to cut off benefits from those who admitted being World War II Nazis or who were convicted of war crimes as Nazis, if it is signed by the President.
How long has it been since World War II ended?
I didn't hear about the bills until Sen. Dan Coats' office issued a press release stating the senator had approved of the bill.
What? In my mind that should have been both obvious and shouted from the rooftops! Of course we don't support those who were our enemies in World War II. Of course we we don't send Social Security to the enemies of "The Greatest Generation," as Tom Brokaw called them.
Apparently, these former Nazis have received millions of dollars of benefits from the Social Security Administration over the years.
When I received the press release I called Washington and spoke to people in the offices of Sen. Coats, Sen. Joe Donnelley and Congressman Larry Bucshon.
Sadly, the news was true.
The bills were introduced following an investigation by The Associated Press.
Both bills passed their respective bodies unanimously and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. However, when the AP contacted the White House, the reporter was told the White House is reviewing the matter.
Again -- what? The outrage expressed by Americans that this has been allowed to continue should be deafening. There should be no question that we would close a loophole allowing such a thing to happen.
I visited American Legion Post 2 in Brazil. I wondered what people who have sacrificed so much in the service of our nation thought of the matter.
 “Them (bleep) should go back over there and die," said one man. He was not a veteran himself but three of his children had served in the military. "They shouldn’t have gotten (the benefits) in the first place."
Other men I met weren't quite as colorful in their language but were definite in stating their opinions.
One veteran questioned the news report but if the media got the it right the Nazis' benefits should be cut off.
This sounds like an episode of "Hogan's Heroes" or "MASH" but it's real.
So, this Congress, known for accomplishing very little, was able to unite on an issue that came to light 70 years after it should have been settled ... and the President is considering the matter before he decides to sign the bill when it crosses his desk.
In a country where too many torn and faded American flags can be seen in too many residents' yards, I ask you, "When will we take pride in our country as we should?"

Frank Phillips is a reporter for The Brazil Times and a freelance writer. He can be contacted at frank.phillips@gmail.com.

Being Frank About Social Security

Everybody works at something. 

Often, we hear about those who are taking advantage of the system, getting what they shouldn't get from our hard-earned tax dollars. 

They work at it as surely as when you and I go to our jobs. 

But let's not confuse people who use the system with those who abuse the system. 

Not long ago I was walking into The Plant shortly before the shift began. 

I greeted a woman who arrived at the door the same time I did. 

"It would be a better day if we didn't have to be here," she growled. 

I understood where she was coming from. It was a beautiful fall day and in a perfect world I would have been out enjoying myself. 

But we both had jobs to do and paychecks to earn. 

That brief exchange got me thinking. 

What about the people who work hard at cheating the entitlement programs and expect someone else to take care of them. Doesn't that make you angry? 

Then I began thinking about Social Security and all the other entitlement programs provided to care for Americans. 

Are the programs all bad? Apparently not. Many people not only use them but nothing is being done to eliminate them. 

I am reminded of a man I met named Ben. 

Ben was a prominent businessman in his community in the late 1920s. He owned a general store and managed a grain elevator located on the train line that ran through his rural community. He also rented a farm which he operated. 

As I say, he was a prominent businessman. Everyone knew him to be a God-fearing man who had helped to start and build the local church in their small community. Mothers knew that he would let them run a tab at the general store if they needed food for their families and money was tight. 

Decades later, a minister told me about the Sunday he filled in at the little country church and Ben gave him a ride in an automobile. 

"Ben and his wife went into the bedroom and came out dressed for the trip," the preacher said. "They had on long coats and wore gloves and hats." 

Those were the good times for Ben and his family that included two boys and two girls. 

Then the stock market crashed and Ben lost it all. 

Years later, his youngest daughter told me about the day she burned dozens of IOUs that were never paid by people who came to the store for food. 

Why did he allow them to have such credit? 

"I couldn't stand to see a child go without milk," Ben told his daughter. 

But Ben owed money, too. For decades after the stock market crash he worked at a factory to pay off his debts. He finally quit the factory when he was 70 but he would have had no place to live if not for the gift of a home from the husband of his older daughter. 

Ben lived in that house during the summer and with his children during the winter for the next several decades. His wife had died during the Depression and eventually all four of his children married and had families of their own. 

After he turned 70, Ben's only source of income was Social Security. He lived on that and stayed in the house provided by his son-in-law. 

The house was heated by a single oil stove and had no indoor bathroom until the 1960s when a bedroom was converted into a bathroom with stool and tub. 

He had no TV or books. A table top radio provided entertainment and news from Arthur Godfrey and Garry Moore and WLS before that station changed to a rock and roll format. 

The first time his youngest grandson went to visit, the child looked at the radio and asked, "Where's the picture?"

Was Ben a success or a failure? I believe he was a great success for he imparted important values to his children and to all who knew him. 

"You don't have to pay off those business debts, Ben," people told him but he didn't listen. 

Ben -- Benjamin Franklin Zellers -- was my grandfather. 

Did he use the Social Security program? Sure! Did he abuse it? Never, for it was established to help people just like him. 

We hear stories about many people who abuse the system but we have to understand there are also many who need the so-called entitlement programs, at least temporarily. In our minds we have to separate those who use the system from those who abuse the system.

Frank Phillips, who received his middle name from his grandfathers Benjamin Franklin Zellers and Clair Franklin Phillips, is a syndicated columnist and author. His blog can be found at frankphillip.blogspot.com and he can be contacted at frank.phillips@gmail.com.