Uncle Sam is going broke. That’s not exactly news – at least not to anyone who has been paying attention to the sorry state of federal finances.

Yet to most Americans, the ballooning national debt ($22.3 trillion and counting) isn’t a problem that impacts their daily lives. They won’t directly perceive the cost of another trillion dollars in borrowing in the government’s next fiscal year.

A trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there.

Few Americans feel motivated to take to the streets to protest Washington’s fiscal irresponsibility.

But armies of outraged Americans will mobilize rapidly to storm Washington the moment Congress considers cuts to benefit programs such as food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Many retirees (and soon to be retirees) have been led to believe their Social Security benefits are secured in a “trust fund” or “lock box” that Congress can’t touch.

In reality, Social Security is a “pay as you go” system, with current benefits funded by the payroll taxes of current workers. As millions of Baby Boomers head into retirement, the benefits owed to retirees will begin far outstripping contributions to the system.

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