The Social Security Trust Fund has not been 'looted'.

[customerserviceguy]

84. And where have those supposed productivity gains been going?

Has it been to workers' paychecks? Most folks I know need two incomes to get by with their families, shouldn't we need only one worker working part-time to have the same standard of living that my father provided for our family in the 60's and 70's?

I didn't say Social Security was a Ponzi scheme, I said it was a pyramid. In the former, the "investors" have no idea about the fraud, and in the latter, they're actively aware of it. Everybody who pays FICA taxes KNOWS that the money doesn't sit in some kind of bank account somewhere, it goes right into the hands of the people receiving it. Now, I know a lot of them feel that they're owed it because they paid in for years and years, but there is no actual liability of the Social Security System to them, and it can be cut off at any time if there are not sufficient funds to pay out.

That's my definition of a classic pyramid scheme, the goal is to not be the last sucker holding the bag. Offshored jobs, and mechanized means of production that benefit a few workers at the expense of many jobs is not my idea of productivity making our lives better.