Social Security

To the Editors:

The Social Security program [May 24], which now has millionaires picking up Social Security checks, has strayed far from F.D.R.'s intent to "ward off destitution" for the elderly. The system makes a mockery of what started out as a humane social program.

Mary J. Hill

Lakewood, Ohio

Most older people understand that Social Security is only an adjunct. Consequently, they have lived frugal lives, paid off mortgages, saved and invested. They have been sabotaged by things beyond their control: longer life, lower birth rates, overexpansion of the Social Security program and, most devastating, inflation. Let's not polarize young against old as if the latter had caused the mess.

Margaret Bank Stanford

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

TIME points out how the country can no longer afford Social Security. But thanks to Social Security, few people now fear that they will live out their days in the poorhouse or get buried in a potter's field. How can we not afford Social Security?

Robert Samuel

Director, Senior PAC

Washington, D.C.

If the U.S. would stop spending so much on the military, it would have enough money to support Social Security out of general revenues. Therefore, we would be stronger with less military.

Tertius Chandler

Berkeley, Calif.

Everyone should be allowed to receive Social Security payments on a tax-free basis until the amount paid into his account and the interest accrued has been recovered. Thereafter all Social Security payments should be subject to federal taxes. Those whose entire income is derived from Social Security would pay little. Affluent people, on the other hand, would be forced to return a substantial portion of their Social Security checks in taxes.

Frank B. Allen

Elmhurst, Ill.

What a deal we baby boomers have got from the generation that sired us. First they sent us to Viet Nam. Now they want $3,000 a year in Social Security taxes to finance their Winnebagos and European vacations. As if that is not enough, they also feel entitled to money that might put students through college.

Walter Jowers

Nashville

I have little sympathy for Social Security recipients who feel that the Government owes them an education because one of their parents died, or whose idea of austerity is to give up cable TV.

Nancy C. Erdey

Bratenahl, Ohio

In private life older people wouldn't think of sticking their children with the bills for their indulgences. Yet the elderly support proposals to delay or eliminate the tax cut that mainly helps younger citizens. In the 1960s, youngsters were called the "me" generation. Their parents are now trying to take over that title.

Stanley C. Johnson

Malta, Ill

Graham Goes to Moscow

It is unbelievable that anyone of Billy Graham's stature could say that there was no evidence of religious repression in the U.S.S.R. [May 24]. He ignores countless martyrs as well as the closing of thousands of churches. It is likewise incredible that he would take the availability of caviar at his meals as evidence of widespread prosperity in the "socialist paradise."

Bishop Gregory, Secretary

Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox

Church Outside of Russia

New York City

Graham's comments on religious freedom in the U.S.S.R. tell more about Billy Graham than about the Soviets.

William Weinstein

Belmont, Mass.

Billy Graham--the quintessential apologist for the Establishment, be it the U.S. or the Soviet Union.

Donald J. Wolosenka

Houston

I can't accept Billy Graham's comments even if they were made with the hope of being invited back to hold a crusade. If he had to be so cautious in what he said now, how freely does Graham think the Soviets will let him preach should there be a crusade?

Karen Thomsen

Sayerville, N.J.

Your report on the visit of Billy Graham to the Soviet Union does the evangelist an injustice. He is a man without guile and not used to the subterfuge of the Soviets. Perhaps if Graham has crusades in Russia, the KGB agents who pack his meetings will be saved and repent.

Moishe Rosen

San Francisco

The press has dealt Billy Graham a bum rap. Considering the declared atheism of the Soviet Union, it is surprising to find that organized religion is tolerated at all there.

Arnold M. Gallub

New York City

Championing Carter

Your story on Jimmy Carter [May 24] made me proud that I have remained a Carter supporter. His Administration looks better every day; his policies will be vindicated.

Chet Blaylock, State Senator

Laurel, Mont.

It is sad that we voted from office the man who engineered the Camp David peace plan, championed human rights and urged arms reduction. It is sadder to think his resources are untapped by the powerbrokers in Washington, who view him with contempt because he lost an election.

Steven Fenton Spina

Tampa

I'm tired of hearing Jimmy Carter's presidency referred to as "flawed." He has accepted his defeat with maturity and is pursuing other interests, yet TIME makes him sound like a weird hermit. Not everyone thinks the ultimate answer to life is spending his time on the golf course and socializing.

Geraldine E. Gibbs

Toledo

Braniff Bankruptcy

Your story on bankruptcy at Braniff [May 24] states that I was paid $600 on the spot for my services when Braniff filed its bankruptcy petitions in my home. The funds tendered were in payment of the required filing fees, and were deposited the following morning into the general treasury account. I did not ask for or receive anything for my personal benefit. That would be unethical and illegal.

John Flowers, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

Northern District of Texas

Fort Worth

Mistaken Source

There is an error in your interview with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt [May 3]. You say the Chancellor referred to a recent speech by a senior U.S. official asserting that Americans "should accept the fact that they are living in a prewar period." My name appeared in brackets as the official in question.

According to Arms Control and Disarmament Agency records and my memory, I have made no such comment in a recent speech or in any other speech or statement since I became director of ACDA. Beyond that, the only remark to this effect I can recall was in a letter to a friend, discussing his use of the metaphor. A copy of my letter was purloined from my files.

Eugene V. Rostow, Director

U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament

Agency, Washington, D.C.

Mind of an Assassin

It is a sad story. If poor John Hinckley Jr. [May 24] had lived in an earlier age, he might have run off to sea, joined the Foreign Legion or emigrated to distant shores. After a while he might have found himself. Unfortunately, hardly a frontier remains for these mixed-up kids who believe themselves to be misfits.

Heinz E. Deppe

Burlington, Ont.

I am amazed that the prosecutor in John Hinckley's trial is trying to prove that Hinckley is sane. The only question is, did he commit a crime? A person's state of mind should not determine his guilt or innocence.

Melinda Hollifield

Rome, N. Y.

As parents, the Hinckleys did what any mother and father would have done faced with a similar situation. They ignored their gut feelings and followed the advice of a psychiatrist.

Jeanne Joyce Blide

Lakeland, Minn.

Illegal Workers

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is mandated by Congress to enforce the immigration laws, which cover locating and apprehending illegal aliens. Project Jobs [May 10] was never intended to be a remedy for the nation's current unemployment problem. Indeed the operation focused on removing illegal aliens from jobs that might be attractive to unemployed U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens.

TIME stated that aliens taken into custody in Detroit were found not to be in the U.S. illegally, implying either false or erroneous arrest. It is true that these people were lawful resident aliens, but they were not in possession of their registration cards as required by law. They were held only for the time necessary to verify their status, then released. Regarding the death of a man in the Boulder, Colo., area, he fled as INS officers arrived. He was not pursued or even seen by investigators.

Immigration Service officers had valid court-ordered search warrants for 20% of the targeted sites, or had received the employer's consent to search.

Joseph F. Salgado

Immigration and Naturalization Service

Washington, D.C.

Calling from Barbados

Your article about President Reagan's visit to Barbados, "Trapped in the Imperial Presidency" [April 26], suggests that this country's communications system is unsophisticated. In fact, the Barbados Telephone Co. offers highly efficient service by any standard. Contrary to what one White House aide told you, the system was certainly not "basically redone" and "left more sophisticated than before." Company workmen laid all the extra cable asked for by the White House Communications Agency. The Barbados Communications System was not in any way enhanced as a result of the President's recent visit.

Antony Cave

Chief Information Officer

Barbados Government Information Service

Barbados, W.I.

Palestinian Poll

The TIME-PORI poll of West Bank Arabs probably exaggerates the degree of hostility toward Israel [May 24]. Moderate Arabs are often harassed; some have even been assassinated by the P.L.O. When approached by Arab interviewers who are strangers to them, Arabs with moderate views have good reason to be afraid to voice them.

Joseph W. Eaton

Pittsburgh

Your report on the poll of West Bank Arabs states that "only 59% agree with the P.L.O. that a Palestinian state should encompass 'all of Palestine.' " This is a euphemism for the elimination of Israel. In view of this attitude, Israel's willingness to grant even limited autonomy to those 59% must be considered generous.

Bernard Roth

Fair Lawn, N.J.

It is true that many Palestinians prefer the radical governments of Syria and Libya over those of moderate Arab leaders. This attitude gained ground because the moderate King Hussein did not help the Palestinians when he had the chance in 1973, while Syria's Assad and Libya's Gaddafi have always been willing to aid the P.L.O.

Nadim Fattaleh

San Jose, Calif.

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