Case Study: The Cato Institute

The United States Social Security System is often considered a political football, frequently debated on whether the government should continue to manage it or should it be privatized. Either way, in today’s economy, it’s vital to the welfare of many. The main purpose of the system is to provide benefits to America’s workers and their families for retirement, disability, and early death. (Unknown Social Security ProCon) According to the data collected in the 2000 census, “Social Security is the main source of income for men and women 65 and older.” (Hartmann, Lee Highbeam) This finding proves people have become to depend on the government for this benefit, and for a multitude of reasons are not saving enough money to live on once they

     There is much-heated debate on the issues of Social Security today. The Social Security system is the largest government program of income distribution in the United States. People are concerned that they won't see a dime of what they worked so hard to contribute into the Social Security system for so many years. Social Security provides benefits to about forty-three million Americans. Not only to retired workers, but also to their spouses and dependents of the workers who die prematurely. It also provides benefits to disabled workers and their dependents. Social Security appears to most people like a simple retirement saving’s account. After all, you generally

Republicans and economist want to privatize Medicare turning it into a voucher-like program that subsidizes purchases of private health insurance. House Republicans have proposed this bill in order to fulfill the GOP goal of balancing the budget in 10 years. Having said that, I can only hypothesize that the amount of capital available to the “new” Medicare population will dwindle and the needs of elderly patients may not be met.

In the United States of America, there exists a two-party system comprised of the U.S. Democratic Party and the U.S. Republican Party. Although these two parties have become somewhat neutral on many issues of national policy, each party has a unique perspective of how the ever-looming Social Security problem should be alleviated. First, the U.S. Democratic Party believes that in order to fix the Social Security problem, pension plans must be reformed and savings incentives must be expanded nationwide. Also, the U.S. Democratic Party has persistently argued against the recent idea of privatizing Social Security. On the other hand, the U.S. Republican Party believes the Social Security system is in need of much more drastic change. According to statistics provided by the official website of the Republican National Committee, "Under the current system, today's 30-year-old worker will face a 26% benefit cut when he or she reaches normal retirement age." Also according to the RNC website, "By 2041, when workers in their mid-20s begin to retire, the system will be bankrupt - unless we act now to save it." In order to fix this troubled system, the U.S. Republican Party believes that the only answer is privatization.

In “The Social Security Problem”, Max Moore discusses the fearful reality of Social Security running out of funds. He states that the U.S. Department of the Treasury predicts that Social Security funds will run out by 2041 and action must be taken in order to prevent this (134). In his essay, he explains how the depletion of Social Security funds are a result from a decreasing retirement age, decreasing fertility rate, and shrinking work force. These things contribute to an increased population relying on Social Security, an increased population of the elderly, and a decreased ratio of workers paying for those beneficiaries (135). Moore explains the proposal of George W. Bush to make Social Security partially privatized; allowing young workers to invest their retirement savings into their own account. This would result in people putting their retirement on the line in

Our nation ensures social welfare through Social Security. However, the United States cannot ensure the welfare of its own welfare system. To save Social Security, Americans in general do not favor an increase in the payroll tax, a cut in benefits or an increase in the retirement age. Furthermore, Americans are relying upon Social Security as their sole source of income at increasingly alarming rates. Social Security is intended to supplement retiree income, not account for 100% of it. Through elimination of the potential options, that leaves one necessary action: invest the Social Security trust fund in the stock market.

Despite all the benefits The Affordable Care Act gives to people, some people believe this law is socialism, and unlawfully forces people to buy health insurance. In 1935 FDR passed Social Security; his critics called this “creeping socialism”. If Social Security were true socialism, no one would pay into it, and retirees would just collect taxpayers money. The same applies for

It’s a matter of either losing all that you have worked for and live in poverty when retired or allowing your hard earned dollars to grow and have a secure comfortable retirement. I believe that Social Security is a doomed Government Program and that Privatization of Social Security would allow for a more secure retirement plan for all Americans. Social Security was first created to help aging Americans in their senior years so they would not end up in poverty. Social Security was signed in as law on August 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was fully operating by 1940 (SSA). Originally a retirement program, but Social Security now includes survivor benefits, disability benefits and Medicare and all together is the largest

For many years the social security program has been operating successfully. In recent times however, it is becoming apparent to some that social security is in need of reform. Their argument is that with the amount of people getting older in the next couple of decades, there will not be enough money left in the social security reserves to pay for everyone who needs it. That is why the idea of separating social security up into private funds has been brought to the attention of the American citizens. This idea of reform has been around for quite a long time; however it has been pushed on by pro reform supporters more in recent times because they think it is necessary for the

Many pros and cons arise with this option of Social Security reform. With other options the government takes the risk, but with privatization it is a personal risk. When account holders reach retirement they are able to withdraw from the account and use the money as they see fit. Government does not control the amount or what the account holders use the money for, leaving recipients with the choice to spend as much of the money as they wish and as quickly as they want. With no control over the usage of savings, this defeats the purpose of Social Security as a “safety net”. The biggest downfall to this reform is the transition period. Not only would the transition be a high cost, but those that are closest to retirement could be left with smaller savings in their private account. If young workers create private accounts then they are not supporting current retirees, and they are not receiving what they should be (Mitchell 2011). Another concern is that not all recipients will end up with a fair amount of earnings in their account. Such

President Obama acknowledged that it is not his “ideal plan” for reducing the deficit or growing the economy, according to a CBS News article by Stephanie Codon. Last year, the AARP released a national survey showing that eighty-four percent of voters fifty years and older oppose reducing Social Security benefits to reduce the Federal budget deficit. An entitlement reform would threaten benefit security–“a core value” of the Democratic Party. Cutting benefits when pensions are disappearing is the wrong direction.

It’s a matter of either losing all that you have worked for and live in poverty when retired or allowing your hard earned dollars to grow and have a secure comfortable retirement. I believe that Social Security is a doomed Government Program and that Privatization of Social Security would allow for a more secure retirement plan for all Americans. Social Security was first created to help aging Americans in their senior years so they would not end up in poverty. Social Security was signed in as law on August 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was fully operating by 1940. Originally a retirement program, but Social Security now includes survivor benefits, disability benefits and Medicare and all together is the largest

Many politicians have utilized the privatization of social security as a political platform. For example, former President George W. Bush has had 47% of Republicans that has voted in support to privatize the system. Presently, the payments received from the Social Security system grants monetary payments to the millions of Americans that are either retired or the family members of the retired and disabled for deceased workers. The federal government is held responsible for collecting these payments. Back in 1935, the social security system was formerly known as the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI). During this time, it only took seventeen contributions from workers to pay one retiree. In comparison to now, a quarter of the employed U.S households that has contributed into the Social security funding

According to Crane he states ¨it wasn't many years ago that talk of privatizing Social Security was considered absurd, irresponsible, and perhaps just a little bit nutty.¨ This article goes into great description about why social security should be a privatization for future generation, but what neglects to mention is it is not a plan to save, but to demolish it. Overall, it means to cut back benefits, increase retirement risks, and increase federal debt. Most politicians believe that if you touch

When this happens those that depend on Social Security will be in danger of losing their place of living, could lose healthcare benefits, and much more that would change their lives. That is why I bring up the problem and try to convince ordinary people to help bring upon this change, because I care for the well-being of those in the country, and I do not want to see anyone suffer from the mistakes of our government. If the community could raise awareness and need for change of the current system, than we can begin voting for those in office to get the process in the works. “Out with old and in with the new.” Looking past helping yourselves and generations to come, you could also help the government by asking for this change. For everyone to understand, “$906 billion went towards Social Security” a few years ago, so just imagine the temptation lifted from the government (“Privatizing Social Security - ProCon.org.”). My final statement is that with privatization the money put into an account would be guaranteed unlike now with the government’s reputation. There are already people who agree with this side, some “60% of currently working adults assume they will not receive Social Security benefits when they retire.” (“Working in Retirement.”). You can be like them and join them to help get this change and spread the word. With all this being said I have to say that if the approach and application of this switch is done right then it can be one of the most successful decisions for the