Social Security: Why It Needs Reform
The U.S. national debt. Currently about $18,200,000,000,000 . This “IOU” hurts our economy, and just keeps getting bigger. Social Security, one of the leading factors to our debt, has added 867,000,000,000 to our debt since the program was founded (U.S. Debt Clock). The money to fund Social Security is supposed to from the 12.4% that comes out of our paycheck, but if this is true, how is it able to accrue this amount in debt? This is why the program needs to be seriously changed.
Social security is a government program that donates money to retirees, people with disabilities, war veterans, and more. At the end of 2014, the number of beneficiaries was around 59,000,000 (Social Security Administration). That many not seem like a lot to you, but just imagine each and everyone of those people receiving about 1,100 dollars in benefits every month for as long as they continue to qualify, which most cases is for the rest of their lives.
As more and more people apply for social security, the amount of debt caused by social security goes up. Every month Social Security gives away $59,000,000,000 to all its beneficiaries. Some of the expenses are compensated by taxpayer dollars, but not all. The government pays the money that is not compensated, causing $867,000,000,000 in debt (Social Security Administration). This needs to be changed. We should lower the amount of money we give beneficiaries so that there is no extra money the government has to pay. One-hundred percent of Social Security should come from taxes, with no government contributions.
Many say that Social Security benefits need to be increased. For example, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats, “are proposing to increase them,”(Chicago Tribune). This is the exact opposite of what needs to happen. Social Security taxes are already extremely high, so we shouldn’t raise the Social Security tax, and the government is already in hundreds of billions in debt because of this program, so raising benefits are out of the question. We need to lower benefits
In conclusion, I believe that social security reform is simple yet necessary. Our national debt hurts the economy in countless ways, yet it simply keeps getting larger. I believe we should stop the debt at its source. Although reforming social security will not be the final step in decreasing the deficit, it will be a wise one.