Sorry on the first one, was chasing my daughter and mixed up some thoughts. With SS, yes its a combination of people living longer/healthcare costs and a growing population that in some cases isn't paying in as much as they are taking out. I meant to include how the cost of SSI is also driving up spending, just adding another wrinkle.

Where I'm going with the other part is that there is no trust that the Dems will get their spending under control so why should the Repubs give in? I simply asked that if the Dems agreed to exact spending cuts or just promised that they'll look into it down the road. I know they eventually got there, but from what I read the cuts Reid promised were pretty much bogus.

Yes we have an aging population, which will balloon the number of social security recipients as well as medicare costs has people are living longer and you tend so have more medical problems basically as your body falls apart. we need to decrease our spending which is cutting entitlement programs and ending the 2 wars we are engaged in.....we need to increase revenues, which should be done by lowering overall tax rates, both personal and business, but cut out all loop holes and subsidies. Neither party will really do this so i think we will have these problems for quite a while

You're right in that regard. To truly "fix" the problem is political suicide. It would all have to be done in one bill with one term congress and president.

No, the United States Postal Service is still government owned.

Not to split hairs, but in a large number of cases people don't pay in as much as they take out. That has been an issue since SS was formed and a reason why it isn't sustainable the way it is currently set up (beyond the other issues already mentioned and the fact that the Federal Government has already pissed away the SS Trust).

Wasn't pissing away the SS Trust one of the moves Clinton did to "balance the budget?"

It's been going on since WWII.
Basic fact is this: SS has a $2.5T "surplus"
Where is that money? In Treasury Bonds

When SS needs the money back, they'll go to the treasury who will say "You have to wait until we sell more, because congress already spent your money. That's why we sold the TBonds in the first place."

Maybe the government should jump into the credit default swap business instead...