Reply #28: My point is though...

[rasputin1952]

"Right now, the payments IN are more than the payments OUT."

The amount IN, has far outweighed the payouts. There was an excess of funds going in, that weren't being paid to recipients...it was being spent on other government projects.

If the monies received were actually held within the system, said system would be sufficient to last for quite some time.

As for the population/employment situation. There is a serious decline in the pay-in population on the horizon. If recipients continue to work beyond till the age of say 70, more will go in than is paid out.

The future for GenX and others is kind of bright, there are no as many of them, so housing costs will diminish, and rates of pay should rise.

Of course, all of this goes straight to hell if the $9 trillion we are in debt for rises to the surface. Under bush and the previous R congress', and this one as well...the country has been gushing cash at an astounding rate. Energy, is the leading PITA and the main artery for cash leaving the country...and w/the dollar kind of squeaking along...if OPEC decides to base it's sales in Euro's...we are history.

When one adds that our industrial level is pathetic compared to other countries, (after all, we turning into a purely service economy which cannot support itself), we 're in some pretty dire straights.

I also that a complete revamp of corporate tax structure is necessary, as well as closing many loopholes that some use to great advantage. Tossing out subsidies to energy corps is pretty lame as well when the make record profits. If the oil subsidies alone were removed from the budget, people would immediately know what $100 a barrel for oil was all about. We would invest far more into renewables and alternatives in an instant....$7.50 a gallon would do much to get us off our short sighted stools.