I have simply convinced myself that the US government will never be fiscally responsible - there will always be debt, and I view the money taken out of my check for SS/FICA as a tax, pure and simple, from which i expect to get no return, ever.

While your plan has merit, the fact is that until the American public becomes more involved in it's own government AT ALL LEVELS, the waste and graft and mismanagement will continue. Sigh. But it's still the best system out there, which is really really sad.