Check your Social Security statement:

Your estimated benefits are based on current law. Congress has made changes to the law in the past and can do so at any time. The law governing benefit amounts may change because, by 2042, the payroll taxes collected will be enough to pay only about 73 percent of scheduled benefits.

As for the budget, while Democrats like to say that life would be glorious if we were only taxing the living crap out of Americans, the problem is spending, and always has been. We would be in surplus right now if Federal spending levels were what they were only three or four years ago, depending on whether or not you're using constant dollars.

Yes, I blame Republicans for this, but the idea that we would be living the frugal life if Democrats were running things is a joke. One of the first things many Democrats would love to see happen if they were in control would be single-payer health care, which would add another trillion or more to the annual budget.

Someone posted data here a while back showing that growth in Federal spending historically was less when the Congress and Presidency were different parties. The more I think about that, the more I wonder.

During the last part of the 90s, Gingrich Republicans ran the House, and a centrist Democrat was President. Maybe that was a combination we're never going to see again.