US Presidency
1976

But I am concerned about the integrity of our Social Security Trust Fund that enables people, those retired and those still working who will retire, to count on this source of retirement income. Younger workers watch their deductions rise and wonder if they will be adequately protected in the future. We must meet this challenge head on. Simple arithmetic warns all of us that the Social Security Trust Fund is headed for trouble. Unless we act soon to make sure the fund takes in as much as it pays out, there will be no security for old or for young. I must, therefore, recommend a three tenths of 1 percent increase in both employer and employee social security taxes effective January 1, 1977. This will cost each covered employee less than one extra dollar a week and will ensure the integrity of the trust fund. As we rebuild our economy, we have a continuing responsibility to provide a temporary cushion to the unemployed.