1. BY STEFAN BROWN AND SARA MASTROBUONO Social Security http://crapo.senate.gov/services/Socia lSecurity.cfm http://thinkprogress.org/tag/social-security/

2. Background In 1939 Social Security was created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Social Security is a supplemental income for people in there older years. It is intended to help people have enough money to live on once they stop working or take on a lower paying job at the age of 65. People who are working have money deducted from their paycheck each pay period and this money is put into a government trust fund. They are able to receive this money once they have turned the age of 65.

3. Issue Between the years of 1946 to 1961 there were many babies born. When these people were old enough to work, there was a surplus of money coming into the government trust fund. At that time, the money coming in was sufficient to cover the social security payments for the retirees. The baby boomers now need the money to retire but, there are not enough people working to pay the taxes to go towards the money for them. With less money coming in from taxpayers then there is going out to retirees, the money has to be taken other ways and that will contribute to America’s huge deficit.

4. More Issues… The other main issue with Social Security that is coming up now is that people are living longer then they used to.  On average, people in 1939 0nly lived to around 60 years old.  On average people now live to around 75 years of age. People are living around 15 more years then they did when Social Security was first created. Most people in 1939 wouldn’t even live to an age where they could actually receive the benefits of social Security.

5. Costs More than 54 million retirees draw from social security. Average payout is $1,076 per month. 45 billion dollars more will be spent than taken in through taxes.

6. Republican Viewpoints Some republicans think that Social Security should be privatized.  This means that when people are working and money is deducted each pay period from their paycheck, it goes into an account made personally for themselves.  In this option, people would be able to invest their money the way they want to. (stocks, bonds, etc.)  The concern with this that people could make bad investment decisions and not have any Social Security money when they retire.

7. Democratic Viewpoints In general, Democratic values lean towards spending more on projects that benefit the people. This means continuing to extend benefits towards those who need it. Senator Kerry stated that privatization of Social Security will cost 2 trillion dollars more. Compromise between parties will be needed for Social Security to continue.

8. Future Impact: Skyrocketing debts from Social Security will add to the already enormous annual debt of 1.5 trillion dollars. If no change is made to Social Security, the US will have default on our debt for first time ever.

9. Citations Should Social Security be Privatized?. 2/1/11 ProCon.org. 2/12/11. Scott Brown on Social Security. 2008 On The Issues. 2/12/11. The Associated Press “ Social Security Will Run Permanent Deficits. ” Nation Public Radio News Site. January 26, 2011. 2/9/11. www.npr.org/2011/01/26/133253327/cbo-social- security-will-run-permanent-deficits. www.npr.org/2011/01/26/133253327/cbo-social- security-will-run-permanent-deficits John Kerry On Social Security. 2008 On The Issues. 2/10/11 www.ontheissues.org/senate/John_Kerry.htm.www.ontheissues.org/senate/John_Kerry.htm