Social Security Act

Before the Social Security Act went into effect in 1935 many Americans discovered many hardships. When President Franklin Roosevelt put this into effect it provided many with relief. For retirees it provided a pension which was collected as a tax on their wages while they worked. The employee paid half and the employer paid half. Over the years the act has been expanded and taxes have been raised. There also have been many amendments. In 1956 disability benefits were added. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnsons "Great Society" program introduced Medicare. In the beginning (1940) $35 million where paid out in Social Security benefits and in 2004 a grand total of $492 billion in benefits were paid to 47.5 million beneficiaries. With these large numbers evolving the country itself was faced with financial stress. During President Carter's years in office inflation doubled, the economy was slow and unemployment rates grew. His attempts to correct this problem only worked for a short while. In the 1980's we were faced with this same problem. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill to increase taxes which helped correct the problem. Currently our country seems to be in a financial crisis again. Who will save us this time?