Grifters’, meaning a con man with shills who prey on suckers aka Republicans. SS is not going broke anytime soon and certainly not in the next 7 to 8 years that Governor Chris Christie would have people believe. The Republican Party has had an 80 year campaign against this very successful government program and therein lies the problem as far as they are concerned. It gives lie to their contention that government can do nothing right. Not only is SS not going broke, it is fully funded to pay out full benefits until at least 2033 and 80% after that even if nothing is done.
In 2014 SS reported that they are still taking in more money from the FICA tax then what is being paid out. We have a huge trust fund now only because during Reagan's Presidency it was determined that around this time a huge baby boomer generation would come of age and apply for SS causing a huge strain on the program, so they increased the FICA tax to create a trust fund to cover those pay outs. This increase was phased in over a period of about 6 years. Prior to that SS was a pay as you go system which it's expected to return to.
Surplus' have always been held in Treasuries in "Trust" for the people and it's not failed in 80 years, so please do not allow "scare tactics" to frighten you. I have been drawing SS benefits for nearly 10 years and when in my early 30's I heard the same stories that it would not be there for me when I retired and so forth, but here I am and it's still here.
Republicans have been trying to privatize SS for decades and GW Bush tried in in 2006 and it failed miserably, but they don't give up. SS is not an entitlement as they assert, it is an old age insurance program. We pay into it via the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) tax which is separate from the general revenues collected via withholding taxes.
If enough people are worried about losing it, leverage will be gained to hand it off to Wall Street bankers, who none of us trust and certainly do not want skimming money off the last retirement benefit many of us have. Wall Street has destroyed our pensions, both private and public, wiped out 401K's and IRA's through their reckless behavior so why should we trust them with our SS? Tell your Representatives to raise the cap on contributions including all forms of income and expand not cut SS.
Beware of politicians who speak of "reforming" SS or Medicare or any social program because what they really mean by "reform" is "cut". They protect the privileged and exploit the underprivileged and couch it all in deceptive terms. Marco Rubio said at the latest debate that any "reforms" they want to do is for those people in the future, meaning our children and grandchildren. I know, as do most SS beneficiaries just how important this program is to build our retirement on, it's just about the only one remaining that can be relied on. One would think after 80 years they'd give up on trying to get rid of SS or at least not hand it off to those least trust worthy. I truly hope that President Eisenhower was correct in his statement that the Party who sought to do away with SS would be the Party never to be heard from again.