The Future of Social Security
TJSL Legal Studies Research Paper No. 904404 October 2006 Full Funding: The Future of Social Security 22 Journal of Law and Politics 395 (2006) by Benjamin A. Templin Copyright © Benjamin A. Templin and Journal of Law and Politics This paper may be downloaded without charge from the Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection. See <http://ssrn.com/abstract=904404>. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=904404 Full Funding: The Future of Social Security Benjamin A. Templin1 I. INTRODUCTION The future of Social Security is anything but secure. Actuaries and economists predict that incoming revenues will be insufficient to pay benefits by 2017 and that the Social Security Trust Fund reserves will be exhausted by 2041. 2 Yet Social Security remains the most important government program designed to prevent poverty among elderly citizens.3 If it were not for Social Security benefits, fifty percent of elderly beneficiaries would be living below the poverty line. 4 Unfortunately, Social Security reform is stuck in a political gridlock.5 After five years of debate, President Bush’s proposal for private accounts6 has been tabled in 1 Assistant Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law. B.A. 1981, Grinnell College; J.D. 1998, University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. For their valuable assistance, the author wishes to thank Kathryn Moore, Howell Jackson, Patricia Dilley, Ellen Waldman, Richard Winchester, Julie Greenberg, Marjorie Cohn, Eric Mitnick, Jerry Heavey at Smith Barney, Kaimipono Wenger, Linda Keller, Claire Wright, Deven Desai, Anders Kaye, Sandra Rierson, Jason Boyer, Jennifer Pawlowski, Amanda Moceri, David Fortner, Dorothy Hampton, June MacLeod, and Norma Dunn.
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