“Even as Congress hunted for ways to finance a major expansion of health insurance coverage, the Obama administration reported Tuesday that the financial condition of the two largest federal benefit programs, Medicare and Social Security, had deteriorated, in part because of the recession. As a result, the administration said, the Medicare fund that pays hospital bills for older Americans is expected to run out of money in 2017, two years sooner than projected last year. The Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2037, four years earlier than predicted, it said.” (New York Times ^[1], Wednesday)

And they were in rotten shape before the recession.

FEE Timely Classic
“Social Security Is in Good Shape? It Just Ain’t So!” ^[2] by Michael D. Tanner