The chart to the right, taken from Molly's "Welfare in America" wiki, breaks down federal spending. The most money spent is for Social Security. When Franklin Delano Rosevelt came into presidency in 1933, he was in for one of the most economically stressful periods of America's history; World War II and the Depression. In response to these events FDR proposed his famous "N
ew Deal" one part of which was the Old Age Pension Act, or what is now commonly refered to as Social Security. "The Act provided benefits to retirees and the unemployed, and a lump-sum benefit at death. Payments to current retirees were (and continue to be) financed by a payroll tax on current workers' wages, half directly as a payroll tax and half paid by the employer." This unprecedented lack of jobs inspired the Act; Roosevelts economic advisors claimed this Act would allow and ecourage older people to retire earlier. Look at all the jobs this would open up! Go President Roosevelt. What actually happend was that America was, once again, given a false idea of it's economic health and growth. We have grown on a lie.
Social Security is not only the biggest slice of pie, it's also the least practical. While money from other pieces like defense may be reduceable by a few percent, or at least redisributed within themselves, Social Security is the only piece that can be demolished completely.
In order to solve America's debt problems Social Security needs to, initially, take major cuts. The babyboomers were promised Social Security from President Roosevelt. I don't think that it is ethical to take this away from them completely; what needs to happen is the selection of a date, anyone born after which will not recieve Social Security. Some sort of compensation can be provided, as some people planned their lives and retirement based on Social Security. This is the determining factor of the cut-off date. The date needs to be somewhere between the people who depend on it (babyboomers) and the people who never expected to get it (current generation). In order to be most effective this date needs to be as early as possible, w
ith one-time severance (of a sort) payments.
If we choose not this road, for moral or fiscal reasons, it is also feasable to phase out Social Security by reducing the amounts paid out by year of birth until it is completely gone. These desicions may seem arbitrary but it is necessary to create harsh lines in the face of such an overwhelming and blurred subject. The comic on the right shows how the people in the Social Security system are currently getting their money. In this second plan, the amount taken from each pocket would decrease from left to right until the fastfood kid was taking nothign from the paperboy.
ew Deal" one part of which was the Old Age Pension Act, or what is now commonly refered to as Social Security. "The Act provided benefits to retirees and the unemployed, and a lump-sum benefit at death. Payments to current retirees were (and continue to be) financed by a payroll tax on current workers' wages, half directly as a payroll tax and half paid by the employer." This unprecedented lack of jobs inspired the Act; Roosevelts economic advisors claimed this Act would allow and ecourage older people to retire earlier. Look at all the jobs this would open up! Go President Roosevelt. What actually happend was that America was, once again, given a false idea of it's economic health and growth. We have grown on a lie.Social Security is not only the biggest slice of pie, it's also the least practical. While money from other pieces like defense may be reduceable by a few percent, or at least redisributed within themselves, Social Security is the only piece that can be demolished completely.
In order to solve America's debt problems Social Security needs to, initially, take major cuts. The babyboomers were promised Social Security from President Roosevelt. I don't think that it is ethical to take this away from them completely; what needs to happen is the selection of a date, anyone born after which will not recieve Social Security. Some sort of compensation can be provided, as some people planned their lives and retirement based on Social Security. This is the determining factor of the cut-off date. The date needs to be somewhere between the people who depend on it (babyboomers) and the people who never expected to get it (current generation). In order to be most effective this date needs to be as early as possible, w
ith one-time severance (of a sort) payments.If we choose not this road, for moral or fiscal reasons, it is also feasable to phase out Social Security by reducing the amounts paid out by year of birth until it is completely gone. These desicions may seem arbitrary but it is necessary to create harsh lines in the face of such an overwhelming and blurred subject. The comic on the right shows how the people in the Social Security system are currently getting their money. In this second plan, the amount taken from each pocket would decrease from left to right until the fastfood kid was taking nothign from the paperboy.
