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I would not go so far as call it a Right. The whole program was well outside the Constitutional authority of the Government, and paved the way for the welfare system of today.

That said, generations have been paying more than a tithe (if self employed, directly, if not, the employer makes up the rest) into a program which assured them there would be a payout.

So I wouldn't say it was a Right so much as an agreement, an agreement even marketed as part of the "New Deal".

I honestly think Social Security should be phased out, and If I was a few decades younger, I would not be happy about paying into a program that would likely be gone long before I was eligible.

Maybe the 'lockbox' should be restocked from the assets of those who looted the fund to buy votes. It would only be a pittance compared to what is needed, but it would be a start.

It is also the reason we're all a number (XXX-XX-XXXX) not a name...even though that number was not to be used for anything but Social Security and Tax purposes.

The other robber in the roost is that inflation may have made the numbers look better, but as we go on, the money I paid in early on, back when silver coins were routinely found in change, is worth far less than it was when I paid it in, back in the days of a nickel candy bar and a ten cent coke (cigarettes were 32 cents a pack in MD then, and gas was under a quarter a gallon). Still, a % is a % is a %, and it was money you earned you didn't get, taken against the promise of a return down the road.

So, phase it out, with the understanding that those who have paid in and reached the age to collect should get the return they were promised, those younger have the option to opt out, but that they will not get a payment when older. That is an oversimplification, of course, but is the basic idea.