Many Social Security experts believe the system is in crisis because it will soon be unable to meet its promised distribution payments to eligible retirees. Republicans and Democrats tend to have very different ideas not only about how the Social Security system should meet this crisis, but they also differ significantly on how the government should address citizensÆ retirement needs.
Generally, Republicans identify themselves as social and fiscal conservatives who believe in limited government and individual personal and financial responsibility. Consequently, as a group, they regularly seek to limit what they call ôgovernment entitlement programs,ö such as Medicare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (ôwelfareö), and Social Security. They view these programs as extravagant government giveaways that cause expensive and inefficient bureaucracy and, therefore, higher taxes.
In 2001, President George BushÆs Commission to Strengthen Social Security advocated a significant change in Social SecurityÆs funding system (Shaw & Weller, 2004). Currently, the system is funded by payroll taxes on the first $87,900 of an individualÆs income. The system, however, is identified as a ôpay as you goö system because monies that are paid into the Social Security trust fund today by all workers are used to pay retirement benefits for retirees who are eligible today. The system, therefore, is not truly a retirement savings program because each retiring generation is not being paid from money it paid into the system, but rather relies on current monies.
Republicans argue, therefore, that the system is unfair and unmanageable. First, they note that the system is misleading to workers because it promises retirement benefits that it may not be able to deliver (Heritage Foundation, 2004). For example, they point out that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently stated that the system will be unable to meet its promised d...