back in the base money to avoid inflation and that is not easy. The people who make that point argue that you should rather buy assets that can be sold if inflation comes than cut FICA taxes. The Democrats (or at least the small 'd' democrats) know that the rich will do anything they can to eliminate the Social Security system and to make the people totally dependent upon the owners of the means of production (the rich). If the Republicans can paint the Social Security system as a welfare program then they can eliminate it. So long as the system is supported by taxes on EARNED INCOME that is refunded in old age then it cannot be characterized as a welfare program and cannot be eliminated in the same way as a gift to the "welfare queen". We are all aware of the shuffling of the money and the taking of the SS funds to award tax cuts to the rich while showing smaller deficits. But the fact is that the funds are accounted in the budget and there can be no lying about the source of those funds. If the Republicans can move the source of those funds from the producers to the owners (from wages to rent/interest) then the Social Security system will be destroyed very quickly. And that is the real objective of every entity that wants to "privatize" the SS system. The one thing that _MAY_ finally happen (due to the HCR debate) is the