“Is Social Security Worth Salvaging?”

The social security program is a hot topic right within our political realm, and those governing our country do not know how to fix the current issues, if they should even repair the program, or if it should be scraped altogether. This is slightly alarming, although not too surprising, given the United States’ recent political and economic track record. Because a bipartisan agreement is literally something out of a fairy tale at this point in time, it would not be surprising to see the country, on a whole, drastically continue to decline, bringing any hope of social programs with it. While social security is currently very valuable to many people who receive it, there are many flaws within the system, including the fact that the younger generation, whom are funding a large portion of the program, will probably never receive a cent of it. The Social Security Act was implemented in 1935 and encompasses several social welfare and social insurance programs. Social security is funded through the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA), which is automatically deducted from every legal, working citizen in the United States. The FICA tax goes to the following social programs: Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI), unemployment benefits, Medicare (health insurance for the elderly and the disabled), Medicaid (medical assistance program), Supplemental Security Income, State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, temporary assistance for needy families, and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The majority of Americans associate social security with just the OASDI, which provides retirement benefits for the elderly, but it does so much more than that. Parents with mentally and physically disabled children receive social security benefits from Medicaid to help cover some of the extensive medical bills that can be easily incurred in a situation like that. There are families who have lost every cent they had in order to pay and care for their child with special needs, so any assistance they can receive is worthwhile. The sheer number of citizens receiving benefits, alone, is causing issues. This program wasn’t designed with the vast population we currently have in mind. Other problems stemming from and surrounding this program are results of governmental actions. It has been recently asserted that $3 trillion of the $14 trillion national debt was actually borrowed money from the social security program’s payroll tax trust account. This missing $3 trillion has gone to fund Homeland Security, which continues to grow and expand its already massive infrastructure, and the massive debt accrued from going to war. The US government needs to be accountable for its actions. While it’s hard to pinpoint a particular person or entity within the government that has allowed or acknowledged this to go on, it is time to face the music and rectify was has already happened. But how can that be done? The US can’t manage its current debt, let alone repay trillions of dollars of tax payer’s money back to the social security program. With that being said, those advocating for the abolishment of the social security