Right of Social Security

The original Social Security Act was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt on 14 August 1935.  The bill stated that it was “an act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws.”  The program is currently funded entirely by payroll taxes and handled by the Social Security Administration under the Department of Revenue.  It was intended as not only a retirement plan, but also a safety net for those who found themselves unable to work.

There are many who feel that the Social Security system will run out of money in the near future.  However, there are just as many who insist that it will not.  Because there is a large disagreement over whether or not the system can sustain itself, as it currently does, there is an equally large chasm between the liberals and conservatives who look to reform the program.

The Republican candidates (those still in the race and those who have since dropped out) almost universally attest that the way to ensure the future of the Social Security system in the United States is to privatize the system.  This would reduce the government’s role in the process and allow the people to decide how much money to put into the system, when to pay it out, and where it goes.  The vast majority of them also insist that the retirement age needs to be increased.  This would reduce the number of citizens who qualify for payments and would thereby reduce the cost of supporting them.  The name of the game here is reducing the cost and the governments roll.

While there are some very extreme policies that were proposed (Mike Huckabee proposed changing the accounts to 401K plans and Rick Santorum theorized that “abortion culture” was reducing the potential population and causing the problems) the majority of the candidates for president, and those in Congress agree that raising the minimum age (because people live longer) and privatizing the system will lead to a longer life with less cost to the average American and more choice.

The liberals will argue that while people do indeed live much longer than they did over 80 years ago, that doesn’t mean that they are still capable of working later.  Their bodies still change the same way that people did when the Social Security Act was passed.  They will also argue vehemently against privatizing the system.  The key argument in this case is that it will create a much larger risk.  If all of the citizens of the United States have all of their retirement plans invested in the public market then the accounts can lose their reliability.  The liberals would say it is putting all of your eggs in one basket; when the markets tank again and both private and Social Security accounts are controlled by that market then Social Security loses its ability to be an effective safety net.