Sorry to say Bonnye Matthews is wrong on most counts in her letter on Social security.  Social security has been part of a unified budget since the 1960's. It does effect the deficit as it kept it lower when receipts from payroll taxes exceeded benefits paid and now increases the deficit as Congress redeems the IOUs that make up most of the Trust Fund . Absent increasing the payroll tax and or lifting the income cap the IOUs will be exhausted within 20 years and benefits limited to what is collected any given year. I'm not sure about what privatization means since there is really nothing to privatize- you can't invest debt. If many years ago the trustees had been given authority to invest surpluses, instead of allowing them to be spent as part of the budget with the promise to repay,, in a balanced portfolio as most all union , govt. Employee and private retirement funds do we would be arguing over a much larger trust fund and much higher benefits. that boat however sailed long ago.