 Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security. As we all apparently agree, Social Security Medicare is off the books now. You know, you're in deep, deep trouble when Joe Biden and Donald Trump agree on anything. And that's especially true when it comes to insisting that nobody ever anywhere cut a single penny from Social Security, the nation's income program for people over 65. Here are three reasons why Social Security should be scrapped completely and replaced with a plan that will help the truly needy without impoverishing everyone else. First, Social Security is unsustainable. Created in 1935, Social Security is paid for by a 12.4% payroll tax on income up to $160,200. Supporters pretend that Social Security is like a retirement plan where your specific contributions build value over time. But the system is a Ponzi scheme in which current beneficiaries are paid out of new money coming into the system. The problem is that when the program started paying out benefits in 1940, there were 160 workers per retiree, so a surplus built up. Today, there are just 2.8 workers per retiree. In a decade, there won't be enough money coming into the system to cover the current level of benefits, and by law, benefits will need to be cut by about 20% or payroll taxes will need to be jacked up even more than they already are. Reason two, Social Security is unfair. The payroll tax hits younger poorer workers harder than older, wealthier workers. A minimum wage worker might pay virtually nothing in federal taxes, but will still be forced to forego 12.4% of his or her compensation. And it's a bad deal. According to a 2016 Tax Foundation study, a worker retiring after making average wages could expect an annual payout from Social Security of about 20 grand. If that person had instead put just 10% of their annual earnings into a conservative IRA, they could expect an annual retirement income of almost three times more. Oh, and don't think the government actually owes you anything when you retire, regardless of what you paid in. In 1960, the Supreme Court ruled in Fleming v. Nester that there is no contractual right to receive Social Security benefits. Reason three, Social Security is unnecessary. When Social Security was passed during the Great Depression, old age and poverty went hand in hand. Now, the median net worth of households headed by someone over 65 is more than double that of households headed by someone half their age. To be fair, part of that's because of Social Security and Medicare, but it's mostly because people are living and working longer and accruing more wealth so that old age programs are less and less important to financial stability and well-being. There's no reason to pay out universal benefits to millionaires like Joe Biden and billionaires like Donald Trump. Rather than jaw-boning about saving Social Security, politicians and voters should be demanding that we wind it down as quickly as possible, let people within a decade or so of retirement get benefits, but reduce and eliminate payroll taxes for the rest of us so we have more money to fund our own retirements. The federal government can and should continue to help older Americans, indeed Americans of any age, who need assistance with food, housing and healthcare. But that doesn't require forcing all of us to pay into a system that is increasingly unsustainable, unfair and unnecessary.