So how much is paid into that fund now is really not that critical - and the payroll deduction simply acts like an additional tax without any low income deduction. This is what it seems to me Obama is trying to eliminate. As for funding Social Security adequately - as I said, I consider money for social security programs much better spent than military programs or wars. It's not so much a question of whether this will happen - it's a matter of when.

Considering the recent bailout again, it proved that even Republicans are in agreement with the principles of social welfare. They seem to want to benefit a different social class from what Obama wants to benefit though. So even in principle there doesn't seem to be any disagreement about whether this is a good thing or not.