[OneWingedShark]

> So, funding SS, regardless of the state of the Trust Fund, is an exercise in how large a deficit we are willing to run.

And what if you're not willing to run a deficit?

[Pearls Before Swine]

And what if you're not willing to run a deficit?

Then you total up the budget and decide what you're going to cut, and what promises the government can no longer afford to meet. No different than your own budget, but harder to do, politically speaking, at present.