People believe that they traded 15%* of their incomes over decades for a promise by the federal government to pay them certain sums of money at retirement, no different from any pension plan. That elements of the GOP want to renege on this promise is not just politically retarded, it is an injustice for which the party will pay at the polls if it follows through. Paul Ryan, the political autist who dreamed up a misconceived scheme to cut SS and Medicare that strikes at retirement incomes for core middle income GOP voters (sub-$50K), has deservedly had his presidential hopes deep-sixed.
* 15% is more than many people (sub-$50K income) pay in Federal income taxes as a % of total income, so this isn't a trivial amount.
Whether I like it or not, if there are not enough workers,i.e., Demographics to make the Ponzi scheme work then it can't.
I see no real choice but to cut benefits if the programs are to survive in their current state.
We are all in a hole that can't be fixed without hard choices and there just won't be any made. Everyone wants more government and their benefits. We are heading for Japan like status, maybe already there. They can't let their interest rates rise above 1.5% or their entire budget blows to Hell. We have kicked the Can Down the Road about as far as it can go. So the next step will be a selective Debt Default to survive or a complete collapse that will probably be presided over by Hillary.