The first Social Security crisis occurred in the early 1980s. After a year, a presidential commission was unable to agree on a bi-partisan solution. Politics prevailed over prudence. Social Security overwhelms every other domestic priority. Moynihan took Dole up on his rhetoric and thirteen days later an agreement emerged.
Courage begets courage and reconsideration of life-long perceptions begets introspection.
Sixteen years after Dole's noble example, life-long Liberal Moynihan has proposed a significant restructuring of Social Security bending it towards privatization in an effort to insure the solvency of the system. Moynihan also seeks to reassure present day workers of Social Security's future viability. This adjustment would result in a Social Security tax rate reduction from 12.4 percent to 10.4 percent. Moreover, the reduction would go disproportionately to middle class workers. As the number of future Social Security recipients increases, the tax rate would gradually rise again reaching a maximum value of 13.4 percent by 2060.