Social Security History & Benefit
Info
In order to successfully
modernize the Social Security Programs, it is important to consider Social
Security’s history. The initial law was enacted on August 14, 1935. It began by
providing retirement benefits for workers and later evolved and expanded to
include disability benefits and family member (children and spousal) and
survivor benefits. Coverage was later expanded to include the self-employed and
those who worked for non-profit organizations. The Reagan administration cut
back benefits by eliminating benefits for college age students who were
dependents of retired, disabled or diseased workers.
Social Security began with a
broad vision and its programs evolved and expanded over time to include the
work of most Americans.
It is a compulsory,
mandatory inclusive insurance program in which all its contributors are treated
equally. Benefits are an earned right. There is no means test to receive Social
Security benefits. Using the term “entitlement program” when describing or
discussing Social Security is a pure insult to the Social Security Programs and
all its beneficiaries and acts as a slur which can only be interpreted at an
attempt to eliminate or damage America
If fact, there have always
been ongoing forces trying to prevent and later eliminate the Social Security
programs. These forces went so far as trying to get the US Supreme Court to
declare the popular Social Security program as unconstitutional. Fortunately,
this effort failed.
Social Security’s official
website has many publications that can provide more information about the
successful Social Security programs. Here is a link to one about the history of
Social Security: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/pdf/2005pamphlet.pdf
The other important thing to
remember when considering “modernizing” Social Security, and its true value, is
that it is much more than a retirement program. Social Security also provides
disability benefits for those who sustain a disabling condition which prevent
them from performing any type of work for a year or more. Working and paying in
to the Social Security Trust Fund for as little as a period of two years,
depending on the worker’s age, provides workers with important disability
insurance.
Similarly, surviving
dependents, such as young or disabled children of a diseased worker or a parent
caring for young children, can receive Social Security benefits after the death
of a worker parent. Again, the amount of required time spent working could be
as little as two years work and never more than ten years’ work.
Unlike, other forms of
investment, Social Security benefits do not run out after a number of years.
Here is a Social Security
publication with a types of benefits overview:
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