The problem is one of definition of what Social Security really is. It is, in fact, a pay-as-you-go system of supporting retirement. It is NOT an investment trust. The obligations are more than 10 times as much as the Social Security fund has available.

The solution is to accept Social Security for what it is, and to adjust the tax system accordingly. Eliminate the UPPER LIMIT on Social Security contributions and apply the Social Security tax to ALL INCOME, not just earned income. This would accomplish the necessary funding immediately and permit the creation of a fully vested Social Security fund over the next two decades.

The amount of tax revenue generated by this simple change would probablly eliminate the deficit without increasing the taxes paid by the middle class significantly.

Also, since we are altering the tax system, why not make it truly progressive? The current US Tax Code is some 17,000 pages. It used to be 14 pages. Clearly, something is out of control, and that thing is special interest group power. I wish to see the US Constitution amended to limit the US tax code to some reasonable length, say 10 pages, each page to consist of no more than 60 lines, each line to consist of no more than 80 characters. It will be quite impossible to hide special tax breaks in such a brief code. It will be impossible to hide unfairness in such a code. (These may be presnt, but not hidden.) Then, public pressure would make the tax code fair and keep it that way.