This is a brief diary. Here is a worthwhile diversion for a Sunday: the New York Times has an interactive graphic with a menu of spending cuts and tax increases from which you can select to "fix the deficit" in both 2015 and 2030. I encourage everybody to go over and spend a few minutes with this interactive graphic.
The interacctive graphic shows that Simply returning to Clinton-era tax rates, including repeal of the Bush tax cuts, reduces the deficit by more than half in 2015 and by about 30% in 2030. Simply choose reining in medical costs and most of both deficits vanishes. Get the US troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan and you are almost home.
In addition to those items, I selected a bank tax, a "millionaire's tax", and reductions in foreign aid, farm subsidies, and earmarks, and I had completely fixed the deficit with room to spare.
In short, reversing all of Bush's decisions, and capping medical benefits is almost all that needs to be done to fix this country's fiscal problems, without a single change to Social Security, and the NY Times interactive graphic shows it. I encourage you to click on the link and see for yourself.