Are Social Security payments "bought and paid for"?

[National Dialogue Moderator <moderator>]

Barbara Janson's question seems to reflect a common American idea
that the Social Security retirement check is rightfully earned,
and therefore should be a transferable family asset.  Do so many
American's see Social Security payments as *bought and paid for*
that we should build the future system on that premise? Would doing
so improve the lot of widows, who now suffer a dramatic loss of
Social Security income when their retired husband dies? Should his
full Social Security benefit be hers to keep even if she remarries?
Answers to such questions help us determine if Social Security
should be thought of as a safety net paid by a payroll tax or as
a paid annuity purchased with payroll contributions (regardless of
who invests them).  Forget today: which should it be in the future?

-- Maureen West, The Arizona Republic