Big wheel, keep on turnin'...

This isn't a problem, is it?

The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

It's time to start cashing them in.

For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year.

Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.

You know what we need? What will make everything better?

A new multi-trillion dollar ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM!!! YAY!!!

Government run health care? Socialized medicine? It's got to work at least as well as Medicare. And Social Security. And Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And the Post Office. Right?

What could POSSIBLY go wrong?