Political risks associated with cutbacks are too great to expect a major change in the way Social Security works. Still, Social security reform is an important issue to people for elected officials.

1)Most Americans don't count on Social security as their main source of retirment income. Social security hasn't been a full retirement package for a long time.
--1700$/month or 20000$/year
2)In the 2000 and 2004 elections Republicans proposed to privatize Social Security by allowing individual workers to invest their own payroll taxes in the stock-market
3) The Democrats also preposed a private investment plan but theirs would be in addition to the existing program rather than a reform of it.

The US is the only industrialized nation without a universal healt-care system.
1) Medicare is for all people 65 and up.
-- Mediare is a three part system
-Compulsory hospitilization insurance for the eldery [Part A]
-Voluntary government-subsidized insurance for physician pees [part B]
-Comprehensive medical care for poor- [Medicaid]
.4)Medicare is expensive program that has massive public support from the eldery. Part of this massive support is no doubt due to the fact that medicare Part A is compusory and many private insurance plans offered by emploers dry up as workers reach age 65 even if they continue to work.
5) as medicare costs have risen the government has required certain incentives to cut costs; those incentives may reduce the quality o care.
6) Nearly everyone aress that the system needs to be imporived.
-About 16% of americans under the age of 65 have no insurance coverage
-America spends more money on health care than any other industrialized nation
-Clinton proposed a new plan, but had no support
-Equality ( terms of markets for health care and individuals ability to choose their own phsysicians)

Pressures in private health care industry:
1) Health insurance providers have extended coverage, preventative health care while limiting the individuals' freedom to choose when ad what type of specialists to see.
-Health Maintenence Organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) are now the most carried forms of health insurance.
2)Substantial numbers of people aren't satisfied with coverage . Response-the Patient's bill of Rights which give patients some type of resource against insurace companies that denied treatments recommended by a physician.
3) Medicare has added a prescription drug plan within the past year when priviously medicare didn't cover.

Americans traditionally thought education could help individuals attain social and economic equality
(1) Elementary and secondary education act of 1965- 1st time the governemnt gave direct aid to the school districts
--head start offers a range of preschool activities for disadvantaged youth

-Gap between blacks and whites education is growing.
-There is a strong correlation between education achievement and economic success
-No Child Left Behind Act set standards of learning, ex: SOL testing

Government benefits:
2 types-
A. means tested benefits impose an income test to qualify
B. Non-means-tested benefits impose no such income tests. An example: Medicare provides equal benefits to wealthy and poor americans
- some say non-means-tested is fair and some don't
-transforming some non-means-tested benefits into means-tested benefits was allure during times of budget defeat.