Thanks to the Social Security Amendments of 1983, signed into law by President Reagan,
Social Security can pay for all current benefits until 2033, if the federal government pays Social Security for its $2.7 trillion
in Treasury bonds. Under current law, the $2.7 trillion that Social Security has earned from Federal Insurance Contribution
Act ("FICA") premiums, paid equally by most American employers and employees, after paying benefits since 1983,
must be invested in special non-marketable Treasury bonds.
Social Security's surplus constitutes 17% of our $16 trillion U.S. National Debt. The
federal government has never defaulted on its bonds, and, since 1983, Social Security's surpluses have subsidized the federal
government's huge deficits.
We can preserve and strengthen Social Security by:
SEGREGATING REVENUES: Social Security should be truly separated from the federal budget and its
income should be deposited in "lockbox" accounts; Social Security's Treasury bonds should be reissued as marketable
bonds and the federal government should legally reaffirm its obligation to pay those bonds!
INCREASING REVENUES: Social Security's income should be increased by increasing
the "payroll tax cap" (the ceiling on income subject to Social Security's mandatory FICA premiums) -- which would
affect only the richest Americans -- and by allowing Social Security to invest, prudently, in stocks and bonds (without exercising
ownership voting rights) and to make U.S. Treasury-guaranteed loans for public school construction and renovations!
DEDICATING REVENUES: Social Security's revenues
should be used only to pay current benefits and to build an endowment for paying future benefits which the federal government
could never cancel or refuse to pay!
MAINTAINING
CURRENT BENEFITS: Social Security's benefits are actually quite modest, and should NOT be reduced by changing
the cost-of-living adjustment ("COLA,") which accounts for inflation, or by raising the retirement age (which is
scheduled to increase from 65 to 67).
TAKE
BACK OUR FUTURE, NOW!
SOCIAL SECURITY PRESERVES AMERICAN FAMILIES!
