As for Social Security, a basic reform would let younger people have personal Social Security accounts.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Electronic returns don't have to be entered into the system by hand, and the IRS's computers reject any returns with incorrect basic information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates (even of a child) and married names (they must match what is in Social Security records).

WSJ: Tax Report: What's New for Tax Season

The once vaunted IRS computer system has trouble accomplishing what would seem to be the most basic of functions: reconciling Social Security numbers, W-2 forms and even the number of children in a household.

CNN: An Overtaxed IRS

Each bankruptcy trust operates by its own rules, and they have resisted efforts to share even basic information, such as the Social Security numbers of claimants, to weed out double-dipping.

FORBES: Magazine Article

I've spent my entire life trying to make good on it, whether it was fighting for women's basic rights or children's basic health care, protecting our social security or protecting our soldiers.

CNN: Hillary Clinton launches White House bid: 'I'm in'

And finally, government has also provided a social safety net to guarantee a basic level of security for all our citizens.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Addresses Business Roundtable

And the majority of people think by a wide margin that we should be maintaining programs like Social Security and Medicare to provide a basic safety net.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama at LinkedIn Town Hall

It also would return the Social Security system to Roosevelt's idea of basic minimum protection against poverty, and would prod those now working to save more for their retirement.

CNN: A Debt-Threatened Dream

At present, fewer than 19, 000 employers nationwide have signed on to use the federal basic pilot program, which instantly checks an employee's name and Social Security number to see if he's a citizen, or his work authorization if he's not.

FORBES: Magazine Article