So just because Republicans have been claiming this, makes it gospel. The truth is this. If any of the previous administrations had not been allowed to touch the SS fund to pay other bills, it would be self sufficient for years. The money we took from it has to be paid back but we are paying interest on the money. Lets look making it private. The Republicans like this for two reasons. One, the money gets invested which make corporations more money. A Republican thing. Two, As I hear talk about making it private, I have not heard one Republican mention that the employers still would have to match your contribution like they do now. One hell of a big tax break for companies. Another Republican thing. Also, let us examine making it private. Are you going to add a high dollar monthly disability insurance to your budget? That will pay you the rest of your life should you become disabled. How about enough life insurance to cover your spouse and children if you die at an early age? Do you think you will have the money to cover medical expenses when you get old without medicare? All these things are not government hand outs, they were paid by you and your employer. What happens when someone like Enron screws you out of your money, or the market crashes just before you retire and leaves you broke? Basically, to me, if we can spend billions in foreign aid, we can damn sure spend enough at home to make the system work again.