Every employed person in America pays into the pot.
No. It's a pay-as-you-go system.
There is no 'pot'. There is no Al Gore 'lockbox'.
The money going into SS are paying current benefits to retirees at the rate of 4 workers for every 1 retiree. When the boomers start retiring, it will go to 2 workers for every retiree.
SS depended on larger generations of workers in a growing economy. Who knew that the boomers wouldn't have enough kids to pay in?
Yes I know about the "lockbox" I just meant taxes in general, it doesn't just fall on the kids born between 1965 and 1978 (or wherever Gen Xers come from) to carry the full burden.