That's just not right. On July 20, the House voted 271-156 to relieve the Marriage Penalty in the federal tax code, passing the bill with the help of 51 Democrats. President Clinton vetoed the bill on Aug. 5, and Congress failed to over-ride that veto. Back in the 1930s, unemployment was rampant and this country needed jobs for young people, so Congress and the President put a limit on how much senior citizens could earn before losing part or all of their Social Security benefits. It was a silly idea then, and it's still silly.
Seniors are some of the most productive workers in our economy.
On March 28, the House voted 419-0 to eliminate the earnings limit on Social Security benefits, so seniors would not be penalized for working past retirement age. Six days later, President Clinton signed it into law. Back in 1898, Congress and the President were looking for a way to pay for the Spanish-American War. Repeated efforts were made to scale back or eliminate that temporary tax, but in 1990 Congress made it a permanent 3 percent tax on telecommunications services. On May 25, the House voted 420-2 to repeal the 3 percent telephone excise tax.