Well--how do you cut 1.7 TRILLION in one single year--(which is this years deficit) It's a great thought--but it couldn't possibly happen. As far as social security you're right it is a bigger ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever thought of. They take 12.4% (employee/employer contribution) for all of your working years--and if you're lucky enough to live that long--they give you back diddly sqwat in a monthly check. If you die and you're not married they just confiscate it. But don't worry about your's---they'll just screw the generation behind you to fund your check. Social Security and Medicare should have been privatized many years ago-- to where the Federal Government couldn't get their hands on it. They spend it on foreign aid--wars--and about anything and everything except what it was intended for--your old age.