According to the recently published annual Social Security trustee’s report for 2013, the Social Security Trust Fund has a surplus of $2.8 trillion, and expects to take in $40 billion more this year than it will pay out.

Social Security is alive and well, and is fully funded through 2033. After that, it will be funded at 75 percent, unless we can increase contributions by eliminating the income cap (no one must contribute on income over $113,000), or by raising minimum wage, or by raising the withholding tax by 0.5 percent.

Social Security is completely self-funded and, by law, cannot be supplemented by federal money. Therefore, it cannot contribute to the federal debt. I believe that the politicians who say otherwise are the same ones who want to privatize it.

Why would anyone want to privatize Social Security if they didn’t believe there was a profit to be made. No one profits from Social Security now except people who receive benefits. I would rather have my contributions go directly back to the people than to have it first pass through the hands of profiteers.

Many people in Maine rely 100 percent on Social Security for their retirement. They shouldn’t have to worry about cuts from year to year. I believe Social Security should be enhanced, not cut. It has been a successful, much-appreciated program since the Great Depression. Cutting Social Security is the same as “stealing from the widow’s purse,” since it is entirely funded by hard-working Americans.

Doris McNally, Leeds