Not so. SS used to be a cash cow taking in more in revenue than it paid out in benefits. It is the reason why the excess was put into the SSTF in the form of interest bearing, non-market T-bills, which now total around $2.4 trillion.
In the early 1980s, SS went into the red, i.e., benefits exceeded revenue. It resulted in the Faustian bargain between Reagan and Tip O'Neil that increased taxes and reduced benefits, including raising the retirement age for full benefits from 65 to 67. They also forced all new hire federal employees into SS.
Now SS is costing us money as the General Fund must redeem T-bills from the SSTF to make up the shortfall.
Source: CBO Combined OASDI Trust Funds; January 2011 Baseline 26 Jan 2011.
Note: See Primary Surplus line (which is negative, indicating a deficit)
Social Security has passed a tipping point. For years it generated more revenue than it consumed, holding down the overall federal deficit and allowing Congress to spend more freely for other things. But those days are gone. Rather than lessening the federal deficit, Social Security has at last as long predicted become a drag on the governments overall finances.
Re-read my sentence. Recipients have always received more benefits than paid in. Recipients, not Social Security as a whole.