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Standard and Short Edition:
1 American Political Culture
2 The Founding and the Constitution
3 Federalism
4 Civil Liberties
5 Civil Rights
6 Public Opinion
7 The Media
8 Political Participation and Voting
9 Political Parties
10 Campaigns and Elections
11 Groups and Interests
12 Congress
13 The Presidency
14 Bureaucracy In A Democracy
15 The Federal Courts
16 Government and Economy
17 Social Policy
18 Foreign Policy and Democracy
Texas Edition:
19 The Political Culture, People, and Economy of Texas
20 The Texas Constitution
21 Parties and Elections in Texas
22 Interest Groups, Lobbying, and Lobbyists
23 The Texas Legislature
24 The Texas Executive Branch
25 The Texas Judiciary
26 Local Government in Texas
27 Public Policy in Texas

Chapter 17: Social Policy

Get Involved Exercise

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What You Can Do

The costs of entitlement programs have grown from 26% to 56% of the total federal budget. Many people are concerned about the future of Social Security because the projected demand on its resources could force significant benefit cuts in 35 years. Currently, Social Security runs a surplus, although from its beginnings until the 1960s it ran a deficit and depended on general revenues for extra funds.

Many proposals have been put forth to both increase individual return and to allow the fund to operate without going into debt. Several of these suggestions are given below. Make a list of the winners and losers for each.

Proposal
Raise retirement age to 70

Means testing to eliminate payments to the wealthy

Increase the length of the computation period for earnings from thirty-five to thirty-eight years

Partial privatization

Total privatization

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  1. How would the working class fare under these plans?

  1. How would the upper class fare?

  1. Which of these plans creates the best cost-benefit analysis, in your opinion?

  1. Explain the difference between an entitlement program and a pension program. What is the purpose of Social Security?

  1. Do you believe Social Security should be changed? Explain.



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