Kent Conrad: “You know, they are scared, and it makes them freeze.”

Let me just say, you know, I come from a small business family.

I have seen retired schoolteachers have to go back to work in their 70's after their husbands have died or their wives have died.

We all know that Social Security is going to have to be dealt with, or we are going to face by 2034 at the latest--many of us believe it will be earlier than that---an across-the-board 23-percent cut.

The surviving spouse provisions are especially important with regard to offsetting some of the unfairness that exists elsewhere.