Social Security is broke. This lady is a victim and that’s unfortunate. But confiscating the earnings of future generations to pay for the unfunded, but promised, benefits of past generations doesn’t solve the problem; it merely compounds it and passes the buck.
I think you’re right that Social Security needs to be eliminated, but certainly you must have some sympathy for those who dependent on it but are now too old to work? In the real world, Social Security existed (exists), people have paid into it for decades, and some of those people are now thoroughly dependent on those payments. No way could I cut them off even if I personally needed to continue paying taxes to support them. It’s the morally right thing to do.
At the same time, I think we should learn from this. I think most of us conservatives are aware that these government programs need to be reformed or eliminated. In the case of Social Security, it must change into a voluntary program as a minimum. Those who are already retired or are near retirement should have the option to stay in. Those who want to opt out, should.
Government could also offer lump sum payouts to current (or near term) recipients for a short time. These payouts could be equal to total contributions paid—maybe even with a few percent interest—so long as the recipient could then be permanently taken off the books.
I consider myself a true moderate, maybe even a traditional liberal. I want to try and roll our big government back without destroying the country in the process. I don’t want chaos. I want smaller government, and I’d be satisfied so long as we’re moving in that direction. Cutting Social Security outright would be a disaster for many millions of people. It’s too far integrated into our society, so it needs to be cut out carefully like a surgeon working on a tumor. I could sleep well at night if the program was reformed so that future generations might be free of it, even if that means I have to currently tolerate some of it.