Sunday, September 06, 2009

What about Social Security?

The big debate today is about what to do about medical coverage in this country. This is an extremely important issue, but what concerns me is that politicians still seem to be avoiding the fact that the Social Security system is running out of money to pay benefits. For years politicians have known that the Social Security system, which most workers pay into and rely on for retirement or if they become disabled, is running out of money.
In these rough economic times more people are applying for Social Security disability benefits. However, there does not appear to be any effort being put into solving the problem of the dwindling Social Security funds used to pay these benefits and retirement benefits. Although some may argue that medical coverage is the important issue of our time and needs to be dealt with it is not the only issue. I agree that medical coverage for all Americans is important however, perhaps the bigger issue that appears to be ignored is the Social Security system. Most people who work pay Social Security taxes on every paycheck with the understanding that they will have money for retirement or if they unfortunately become disabled they will be able to collect this money to at least meet their basic needs.
If Social Security runs out of money and cannot pay these benefits just imagine the effect it would have on every single American. This is not a political article on the medical coverage debate. The purpose of this article is to make people aware that we must not forget the Social Security trust fund and the importance of it when other issues are grabbing the headlines.