Reply #3: this has been going on

[fmlymninral]

for a number of years. Even when we had a "surplus" we were borrowing from SS. Most of the surplus was in SS revenues.
The budget has been out of whack for years, that is why SS is not going to last. There is no money in the account to pay retirees. Once the balance of SS goes south, the monies will have to be raised from general revenue which will result in drastically higher taxes and less benefits.