SS is unsustainable as currently structured. It is a Ponzi scheme. The SS "surplus" starts declining in 2008 and payouts will exceed revenue. It is a pay as you go system. The politicians must do something, but I fear that they will kick the can down the road like they did in 1983 with P.L. 98-21, (H.R. 1900) That fix was supposed to last 70 years.
The only way to keep SS solvent in the long term is through Personal Accounts. The UK and Chile did it with their retirement schemes. "Saving" Social Security without individual accounts could require a 50% increase in Social Security taxes or a 27% cut in benefits. I suspect that Congress will again cut benefits, raise taxes, and increase the retirment age for full benefits. The ignorance of the American people about SS is astounding and the politicians of both parties like it that way. But like Joe Louis said, "He can run, but he can't hide." Eventually, we will have to pay the piper and the longer we wait to really solve the problem, the higher the price.
payouts will exceed revenue in 2017.