They did pay for them. The government spent it as fast as it came in or Medicare and SS would not only be solvent but have a major surplus.
If they had invested it then they could pay all current claims off the income without touching the principle.
However... they didn't.
Is this the retiree's fault? Partly. After all they were the ones who elected the crooks that drained the account.
However it can be argued that the government must pay back everything they borrowed before it would be just to ask the retirees to give up any part of their claim.
Yes, it is partly the fault of the beneficiaries... come on now, do you really think that the benefits promised live up to anything that you could get privately with much more money?
No, we all played stupid and took everything that the politicians offered without questioning the future. It was way too easy....
Now, we are meeting the rock in the road and it is us and our benefits. Do we stonewall like the Wisconsin Democrats or do we realize that we’ve been had and things have to change?
That is really the question and it does dictate the answer. It is and will not be pretty, we have lived high on the hog for way too long...
All have to finally agree that things have to change and it will hurt many of us...
What it no longer has is a super surplus where the government's obligation to repay is growing. It's now shrinking but it still exists.