The Social Security Act of 1935 helped save the economy after the great depression. However, although it revolutionized the idea of government control of the economy and financial assistance to the people, the program presented a few flaws. Originally intended for industrial workers, many people such as the self-employed and farm laborers were excluded from the retirement benefits. Even with many reforms throughout history, the social security system still remains corrupt. As explained in the YouTube video above, there is a large amount of social security surplus collected over the years. The money collected from the payroll tax exceeded the amount payed out in benefits to Americans. Therefore, as of April of 2011, the social security surplus was at $2.5 million. The corruption deals with the surplus because the government is using Americans' money as part of the budget to pay off the war, tax, cuts, and foreign debts. Because the government is using this money to help reduce the national deficit, social security will eventually run out. As a result, congressman are trying to raise the retirement age so social security payments will be reduced, but all that is doing is cheating Americans out of their hard earned money acquired over the years.
