You ever notice that when Bush talks about Social Security, he never mentions Bush tax cuts as part of the problem? The reason he never mentions this is simple: these tax cuts are "off the table." Instead what he proposes is cutting YOUR future benefits, all so he can continue humungous tax cuts to millionaires, billionaires and corporations. He wants to cut YOUR future benefits, all so Paris Hilton can get a huge tax cut TODAY to pay her bar tab.
The reason Bush is going after Social Security is precisely because it is the only federal program that is above water and functioning perfectly. Bush can't stand the fact this program is in the black for the next 40 years (way longer with a few tweaks proposed by democrats) because the vast majority of this money goes to the working class earning less than 90K per year (94% of us!)
As Senator Dodd said perfectly on Meet the Press last week, Bush tax cuts amount to 11 trillion dollars in lost revenue over the next 75 years. This is almost three times the amount of the projected shortfall in Social Security. Now consider that 3 trillion of Bush tax cuts go to the upper 1%. If we simply don't make these cuts permanent (which they aren't supposed to be anyway!), we are well on the way to solving the potential shortfall in Social Security. But Bush doesn't want to do this. So instead he proposes huge cuts in future benefits for the working class. These cuts might be as high as $300 or more per month in lost benefits for life! He proposes this all so he can give huge tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires today. Bush wants to cut the benefits of the bottom 94% to pay the upper 1% huge kickbacks today! (Being a Bush Pioneer or Ranger really is a great investment!)
The reality is Bush wants to cut YOUR future social security benefits 20 or 40 years from now, to the tune of 100K to 200K for many average people, so Paris Hilton can get a huge tax cut today. Bush wants average working class people to sacrifice hugely in the future to pay Paris Hilton's bar tab today! This is absolutely disgusting.