The point was, SS benefits are NOT the source of
today's deficit or
today's national debt. The news is reporting that the SS trust fund is still in surplus, and won't run out of money until 2037 - but since we've begun drawing it down already,
now is the time to fix it, if we can.
Government has been, and continues to, pirate/steal SS funds for other, NON-SS programs. That doesn't make SS the problem,
it makes the rest of government the problem. Pointing to SS "entitlements" as the source of today's deficits and today's national debt is dishonest. (Dishonesty from fed.gov? Who would've thunk it?
)
And they continue to swindle the SS trust fund. Consider how SS retirement benefits are now taxed - fed.gov pays out benefits with the left hand, and then takes back a chunk with the right hand . . .
but what they take back doesn't go back to SS, it goes into the general fund. This way they get to steal the money, launder it through retiree's accounts, and not even pretend they're going to pay it back.
As for confiscating 401(k) or other retirement funds . . . that would become really nasty, and .gov knows it. They may tinker with or phase out 401(k), IRAs, Roths, etc., but outright confiscation? I don't see it. Consider - if 0.01% (one in ten thousand) of the victims decide to "vote from the rooftops" (to use a euphemism) being a government employee would become a job with greatly reduced long term prospects. And the .gov reaction would be both swift and harsh . . . provoking
more violent backlash. A vicious spiral that will spin out of control, with no winners. Very bad for everyone.