Changes

{{Cquote|We shall make the most orderly progress if we look upon Social Security as a development toward a goal rather than a finished product. We shall make the most lasting progress if we recognize that Social Security can furnish only a base upon which each one of our citizens may build his individual security through his own individual efforts.”<ref>A Message Transmitting to Congress a Report of the Social Security Board recommending certain improvements in the Law. January 16, 1939. Retrieved from the [http://www.ssa.gov/history/stool.html Historian’s Office of the Social Security Administration,] January 5, 2011.</ref>}}

{{Cquote|We shall make the most orderly progress if we look upon Social Security as a development toward a goal rather than a finished product. We shall make the most lasting progress if we recognize that Social Security can furnish only a base upon which each one of our citizens may build his individual security through his own individual efforts.”<ref>A Message Transmitting to Congress a Report of the Social Security Board recommending certain improvements in the Law. January 16, 1939. Retrieved from the [http://www.ssa.gov/history/stool.html Historian’s Office of the Social Security Administration,] January 5, 2011.</ref>}}

The 2014 Social Security Trustees' Report says that there is an unfunded obligation of $13.4 trillion over the next 75 years based on the current taxes and benefits under the program.  However, the trust fund balance has enough to pay these benefits through 2033.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/08/social-security-trustees-report-unfunded-liability-increased-11-trillion-and-projected-insolvency-in-2033|title=Social Security Trustees Report: Unfunded Liability Increased $1.1 Trillion and Projected Insolvency in 2033|work=Heritage Foundation|date=August 4, 2014|accessdate=March 1, 2016}}</ref>

The 2014 Social Security Trustees' Report says that there is an unfunded obligation of $13.4 trillion over the next 75 years based on the current taxes and benefits under the program.  However, the trust fund balance has enough to pay these benefits through 2033.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/08/social-security-trustees-report-unfunded-liability-increased-11-trillion-and-projected-insolvency-in-2033|title=Social Security Trustees Report: Unfunded Liability Increased $1.1 Trillion and Projected Insolvency in 2033|work=Heritage Foundation|date=August 4, 2014|accessdate=March 1, 2016}}</ref>

===President Franklin Roosevelt's proposal for an overwithholding slush fund===

===President Franklin Roosevelt's proposal for an overwithholding slush fund===

Social Security has been called the "third rail of American politics" because politicians get badly burned if they try to tamper with it. In 1999 [[President Clinton]] proposed investing the Social Security Trust Fund in what some might consider "risky" assets in the [[stock market]] and [[bond]]s. The stock market then was in the late stages of a bull market cycle with stock prices and indexes overvalued.  Clinton told a joint meeting fo the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate,

Social Security has been called the "third rail of American politics" because politicians get badly burned if they try to tamper with it. In 1999 [[President Clinton]] proposed investing the Social Security Trust Fund in what some might consider "risky" assets in the [[stock market]] and [[bond]]s. The stock market then was in the late stages of a bull market cycle with stock prices and indexes overvalued.  Clinton told a joint meeting fo the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate,

{{Cquote|I propose that we commit 60 percent of the budget surplus for the next 15 years to Social Security, investing a small portion in the [[private sector]], just as any private or State Government pension would do.<ref>[http://www.c-span.org/Transcripts/SOTU-1999.aspx President Bill Clinotn's 1999 State of the Union Address,] January 19, 1999. Retrieved from C-Span.org 19 August 2010.</ref>}}

{{Cquote|I propose that we commit 60 percent of the budget surplus for the next 15 years to Social Security, investing a small portion in the [[private sector]], just as any private or State Government pension would do.<ref>[https://www.c-span.org/Transcripts/SOTU-1999.aspx President Bill Clinotn's 1999 State of the Union Address,] January 19, 1999. Retrieved from C-Span.org 19 August 2010.</ref>}}

====The Clinton/Gore Tax on Social Security benefits ====

====The Clinton/Gore Tax on Social Security benefits ====