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There is still, on paper a $4.6 trillion surplus in the SS trust fund. SS could be repaired over the years if Congress and the President would only do it. Shortfalls stay around $100 - $200 billion per year for another decade, small stuff in current federal budget terms. - SS could be fixed.

The SSTF is part of the $17 trillion national debt. They are held under Intra-governmental Holdings as distinguished from the publicly held portion of the debt. There is no "surplus,s" but rather interest-bearing , non-market T-bills that must be redeemed by the General Fund to make up the shortfalls. The current amount is about $2.8 trillion.

SS is a pay as you go system. Today's workers pay for today's retirees. SS has been running a shortfall since 2010, i.e., revenue received is less than benefits paid out. In order to make up the shortfall, SS cashes in some of the T-bills in the SSTF. The General Fund must come up with money. Since we borrow 40 cents of every dollar spent, we borrow money to redeem the SS T-bills,

Social Security has passed a tipping point. For years it generated more revenue than it consumed, holding down the overall federal deficit and allowing Congress to spend more freely for other things. But those days are gone. Rather than lessening the federal deficit, Social Security has at last — as long predicted — become a drag on the government’s overall finances.

And Medicare is in far worse shape. 40% of all Medicare funding comes from the General Fund. Currently, $233 billion came from the General Fund. Medicare has been running in the red since 2008.

This graph shows that the average man and woman (average defined in the study as average income over their working lives and living to the average life expectancy) who start receiving benefits in 2010 get over 3 times more in benefits than they pay in to the system! Of importance, the study accounts for inflation by calculating all past taxes and future payments in 2010 dollars to provide an accurate comparison.

If the notion that Medicare recipients are simply "getting back what they paid in" is false then where is the money coming from? Simply, the excess received is being borrowed from younger generations and the cost is more than we can bear.

There is still, on paper a $4.6 trillion surplus in the SS trust fund.

I'm well aware of everything you say. But, still, should our government ever become more fiscally responsible, SS is not our biggest problem. For a decade and longer the current year SS deficit will build from around $100 billion to $200 billion, not much in $4 trillion budgets. And the government still owes SS $4.7 trillion as part of the national debt. - Simply raising the SS retirement age is a start.

Nothing is funding the $1 trillion and growing annual payout in poverty programs other than current year, non-SS revenue and new government debt (40%+ of all spending).

SS is not the real problem, but irresponsible spending and borrowing. If that's not remedied, then every dollar in the federal budget is at risk along with the US economy and the living standards of most Americans.

There is no logic, only politics, in constantly singling out SS as the great, looming financial disaster. Decades of reckless spending and kicking the fiscal responsibility can down the road is the real problem.

Actually, your SS shortfalls are less than the ones in the original article posted here.

You make some good points.

And, where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government can take money from young people and give it to seniors?

You make some good points.

And, where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government can take money from young people and give it to seniors?