Social Security was not designed to be a wealth redistirubtion program and it should not become that. The program was designed as an individuals retirement back-up plan (basically the bond portion of a retirees investment portfolio). This is why benefits received are matched to a persons contributions. Your suppose to get what you put into the system, not take a share of someone else’s contributions. Social security should not be changed into a wealth redistribution program and should remain as the government run retirement insurance program it is now. This is why Social security is capped because you are only insuring your own retirement. Do not look to morph the program.

make congress pay back what they took for there pet programes.

Raise the retirement age to 70.

Raise the rate to 8.65, remove earnings cap from earnings, and invest the Social Security funds in high yield government investments. I do not feel raising the retirement age is any part of the answer. I don’t think we should trust any money to Wall Street Bankers in light of the present mess. We don’t need it invested in SIV’s or CDO’s so we can watch it disappear.

Raise the minimum wage to $12.00 an hour,enough people in this cotegory to contribute a lot, invest social security in secure stocks and bond, none of social security money is been invested at the moment.

truth is no one has the answer. truth is freedom is a great thing. to those of you who want a socialist country the solution is easy, just go to Venezuela. Else, be defend your freedom and to those of you with 6 children, realize that was your decision. yes social security is great idea however when have utopias worked? Ask yourself that question and then perhaps you will decide to use yor freedom in abetter way than having 6 children, not fighting for an education for yourself which made you in this great country a 20K per yr earner. Teach your children to not follow your path and perhaps one of them will become a high earner and love you enough to carefor you in your old age. God bless you and God bless the USA.

No act of Mercy is ever wasted, and there are many who go under the bridgles and into the cardboard boxes is they did not have disability benefits from social security. Let us keep more of our tax dollars home. Do you think we can contnue to play Rome to the world? Let us take good care of our own, “you did it to the least of these, you did it to me”.

I would ask the most wealthy persons to avoid receiving social security and make it a tax deduction. Next, I would incease the cap taxed on earnings ruducing the rate 1% each million dollars of taxable income and keeping it at !% for all taxable income over $5,000,000. I would make an annual amount of socail security receipts avialable for investment; 6%, available to be invested in four braid based stock indexes. I would ask the no-load funds to bid on a contract for !% of the 6% to be invesed spreding this funds equally to six good non-load mutual funds. The treasury department could be given an annual 5%
of tax revenue to invest for the social security and medicare fund.

SOCIAL SECURITY WAS MEANT FOR RETIREMENT, NOT DISABILITY OR THE MANY OTHER PROGRAMS THAT EAT INTO THE FUND

1.stop the war pay of are debt.2.pay back all money stole from Social Security.pretty easy Huh.

here is a plan,, take all the pork spending,that is wasted every yr and put it in to social security. and take one third of the tax refunds and apply them to social security.allow gov to build the fence,, elect HILARY CLINTON

people with income high enough to actually be able to invest money in stock ,or have retirement funds should take a moment to try and figure how a single father of 6 with a income of 20,000 a yr, is able to pay for the raising of all the kids and pay monthly expences,and have anything left to save..and what about the people making 12-15 thousand a yr? social security is needed for low wage workers that have nothing left at the end of the month..are you going to let them sleep on your lawn???

Dear Dave - while I have not intention of relying on social security for retirement - you can save you whole life and have one catastrophic medical crisis and you have to rely on social security because your entire savings has been spent. As far as catastrophic insurance coverage, we are still raising a family and feel our retirement savings and keeping our debts low is a better way to spend our money. My hat is off to you if your life is so good you don’t have to worry about losing everything you have worked for and saved to a medical tragedy.

People shouldn’t rely on social security to retire in the firse place.

End social secutiry. Its a failed system. People must save for themselves and not rely on the government to save for them. It’s not fair for people if the responsible ones who save money have to pay for the unresponsible people who don’t.

What difference does it make what I think? I think pretty much like most of these folks, but since when do th Politicians care or do what is good for the American people. Give me a break is correct!

Like to think about the promised Stimulus –how do you check if and when one will receive?

Get real and address the root of the problem. !. Make our government put all the (IOU) money back into Social Security. 2. Stop all the wasteful spending on pet projects, aid to other country’s, billions of write offs to oils companies and all the other companies. 3. Take all the wasteful spending and unfair tax write offs and aid dollars and put it back into Social Security. 3. Make Bush/Cheney accountable for the lies and criminal acts and put them in jail now, then reelect accountable people that will look out for the best interest of our country and it’s people. Anything short of that will never fix the problems in our country created by corruption at the highest levels. Raising any taxes without addressing the root of the problem will not fix anything long term. Raising the retirement age or Increase Social Security taxes is a narrow minded way to setup a poll it does not address the root of the problem or give any other options. I will not even poll on those BS polling options. It just go’s to show how narrow minded and out of touch with the truth of what is going on at the highest levels of our government (which is big time corruption) to even suggest that polling on only those two methods is the real long term answer. Who ever came up with that method of polling without any other polling options is blind to the real root of the problems. It is a (fact) that when our government wants to send aid to other countries they always find millions and even billions to just give away, just like they do on pet projects and rebuilding countries like Iraq, but when it comes to the very people who pay the taxes they want to take more away and spend the Social Security funds and replace it with (I owe you’s) and then say we are going to run out of money. How unpatriotic can one’s government be and the polling method for fixing the problems are a joke! Get real screwing the American people more is not the answer and giving them more money to borrow against with (I owe you’s) is just crazy. Wake up American people.

I am not an expert on this situation. First,I’d like to say we need to quit handing out social security to everyone who has a social security number. Only U.S. citizen workers or families of workers in case of death/disability should be able to receive benifits. Also,I do not believe we need to raise the age requirement. All we need to do is have everyone pay into the system at a percentage rate based on income. Just a suggestion,maybe the first $10,000.00 to $21,999.00 in income pay a percentage of .25 after you earn income of $22,000.00 to $49,999.00 your percentage goes to .3 percent. at $50,000 to 125.999.00 . after income reaches $126,000.00 to $225,999.00 you pay .4 percent and any income at $226,000.00 and above you pay .6 percent towards social security with no caps . Or,allow new wage earners to start thier own account using same percentage rates mandating only half to be put into the Gov. social security system and as time goes on deceasing the amount needed to put in the s/s system so as to eliminate the social security system and all will have their own account. This allowing retirees now to still have the funds in system for them.

The Social Security Trust Fund should be invested in a mix of investment types (stocks and bonds mostly, some in cash and some invested in real estate trusts, comodities, etc.) just like any well-run pension fund. And the level of ‘wages’ subject to taxation should be raised faster, although I really doubt it should be unlimited. Medicare is the real problem, it seems to me.

Raise the retirement age. In 1936 when the retirement age was set at age 65 life expectancy was less than age 65

They should raise the earnings, maybe some of the problem with society is to expect the younger generation to work until they drop dead instead of having the oppritunity to retire at a reasonable age.

They should do both, eliminate the ceiling, extend it to all sources of income and raise the retirement age to 70. Once the ceiling and discrimination in income sources is ended, the overall rate can be adjusted appropriately to bring the rate down and help out people whose sole source of income is wages.

They should raise or eliminate the earnings ceiling on social security taxes before they look at raising the retirement age (again) or reducing benefits.