Some people are optimistic about Social Security. But it's shrinking as the number of retirees grows.

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : Meanwhile, Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1981) will become eligible for Social Security in a decade, a trickle that will gradually grow into a flood.
64% : The system's Trustees - led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen - warn that Social Security will burn through its cash reserves (officially called the "Trust Fund") by 2034.
61% : When it comes to Social Security, I wish I could be as cheerful as the Motley Fool.
59% : This is important because in a country in which Americans are divided on just about everything, Social Security is one thing we all have in common.
53% : Today, some 65 million Americans get an average $1,543 a month - making Social Security the largest single source of federal spending.
53% : As of July 31, there were 10.9 million job openings across the U.S, says the Labor Department - 10.9 million fewer people paying Social Security.
52% : Lawmakers could also lift the full eligibility age for Social Security - which is nothing less than a benefit cut.
47% : This helps explain one ominous fact: Social Security is now paying out more than it's taking in.
44% : There was a rather cheerful piece on Social Security from the Motley Fool in USA TODAY recently.
44% : Why do you think Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid - which have problems of their own - are called the third rail of politics?
43% : There's a reason we haven't had meaningful Social Security reform since the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan, of all people, signed a Social Security rescue bill that raised taxes.
37% : Yes, of course, raise taxes!
24% : Look at the difficulty President Biden and Democrats are having now trying to raise taxes on high-income earners for things like school lunches, climate change mitigation and hearing aids for seniors.

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