12 Things You Should Know About Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan

[sad sally]

4. Strange how a man who's father died at an early age which entitled his surviving children

and wife to his Social Security benefits (which he says he saved and used for college) wants to gut the "ponzi" scheme. Is it really his belief that this social government benefit he received until he was 18 didn't keep his family together?

Edited to add this find:

According to US News and World Report, “Ryan’s father died when Paul was only 16. Using the Social Security survivor’s benefits he received until his 18th birthday, he paid for his education at Miami University in Ohio, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science in 1992.” According to the Chicago Tribune, “Ryan’s late father was a lawyer who died when Ryan was 16. He has said his father’s death made him grow up fast. Until he was 18, Ryan, the youngest of four children, collected Social Security survivor’s benefits, which he said he socked away for college.” [US News and World Report, 7/23/08; Chicago Tribune, 4/17/11]

Guess those monthly benefits must have been very generous for those two years to have grown enough to pay for college.

.......................end of edit.


Speaking from personal experience, even though it was almost 64 years ago, the small amount my sisters and I got from our Dad's benefits after he was killed kept food on the table. It also solidified us into lifetime liberal Democrats who understood very early the need for a compassionate government, as the company where our Dad was killed didn't.