In a
recent column on the senior citizen lobby,
I noted that Social Security is often "middle-class welfare" that
bleeds the country. This offended many readers. In an e-mail, one
snarled: "Social Security is not adding one penny to our national debt,
you idiot." Others were more dignified: "Let's refrain from insulting
individuals who have worked all their lives and contributed to the
system for 50-plus years by insinuating that [their] earned benefits
are welfare." Some argued that Social Security, with a
$2.6 trillion trust fund, doesn't affect our budgetary predicament.