The problem arises when what the taxes are suppose to be paying for, start jumping ship to other areas. When the penny starts to get thin, you can't ignore why it's getting thin. I agree with lilmike, with regards to, that there has to be accountability.
But I'll disagree that SS can't work...it works quite well if it's coffers are left alone. But it seems neither the Government, nor the potential for private investment, can ensure the stability and safety of the funds. So perhaps, we need to look at other options down the road, that can negate the human greed equation.
There is a real face behind the argument and very real problem of over extension of funds and I hope it can become resolved without the sacrifice of the poor and elderly in the process.
I think SS can work, or at least be fixed. Other countries, like Sweden, fixed their social security problems, but I don't know what system could bypass human involvement.Simple changes decades ago would have made SS solvent for the foreseeable future. If the program had indexed the retirement age to the life span, if Johnson had not stolen the surplus for general revenues, or as Robert Reich suggested, if the surplus had been invested in the stock market (yes even with the crashes of 1978, 2007, & 2008) it would have generated enough surplus that SS would be in the black as far as the eye could see.
But when have the country has their head in the sand and denies there is even a problem... well all we will be able to do is drive that puppy right over the cliff.
