Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years, the first time that’s happened since the 1980s. It is just another case of fallout from greedy lenders and bad mortgages. This time the entire fabric of the United States is threatened.

Jobs are gone, and may take up to ten years to return. Decisions are made accordingly.

Applications for retirement benefits are 23 percent higher than last year, while disability claims have risen by about 20 percent. Social Security officials had expected applications to increase from the growing number of baby boomers reaching retirement, but they didn’t expect the increase to be so large.