Social Security can be saved only by being privatized and converted into a real pension system with individually owned accounts invested in real assets. I say this from observing how easy it is for Democratic politicians to make Americans anxious that Republicans are out to harm the system. That Social Security would again become a political football was as predictable as sin. Two Clinton terms have revealed a Democratic Party corrupt at the core. With an election heading our way, all the Democrats can do is to stoke fear of the other party.
Fear works because the public is content to be utterly ignorant about the system they so cherish.
It is kind of like loving a spouse you know nothing about. Some might say that is the only way you can love a spouse. It is certainly the only way you can love Social Security. Americans' ignorance about their socialized old-age retirement system is ruthlessly exploited by Democrats. The combination of fear and ignorance prevents reforms.