Almost 60 million Americans are on food assistance, 93 million Americans are not in the labor force, one out of 5 kids in the US is at the poverty level. The fact of the matter is that we are worse than broke. The trajectory is not good. More and more municipalities will have to file for bankruptcy due to onerous pension obligations.
So our choices are to default, print money, raise taxes, cut benefits, All of these things suck at some level and are painful. This isn't something I am pulling out of my arse, this is Gospel. The problem is that politicians necessary to address this will not get elected because they get elected by promising bread and circuses.
The first benefits to get cut are those that affect the elderly and infirm, they are less likely to cause civil uprising.