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Originally Posted by dellinger63
The Treasury held $70 billion in its account prior to borrowing $2 trillion so it could in part make this month's SS payments. The fact the SS fund holds nothing but IOU's from the Treasury should be a huge wake up call and seniors should never be concerned about receiving a check while SS is funded, especially when its balance is supposedly $3 trillion.
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Nonsense. No Senior has to worry about receiving anything less than full payment through 2037. And 78% after that. But we'll fix it. We've made multiple adjustments over the years, just need another.
And it's been that way for some time. Strange the sudden fixation on Social Security when none is needed.
The only reason to worry about making tomorrows payment was the ridiculous kabuki of "oh noes, don't borrow for the cash flow!"
Fortunately for this country, Joey's "ostriches" had alot more than a pea-brain, and prevailed.
When we need money, we sell some of those Treasuries off. You realize that's how Social Security earns additional interest money while sitting there, right? We will not put that money into a dangerous, volitile stock market market. It's against the law to risk it that way (good thing, as it would have lost 1/3 of it's value in the past decade!) It's safe in the safest bonds in the world.
And you do realize, that if Social Security were indeed "cash" in a lockbox, it would be immediately loaned to us in bonds to earn that interest, right? It really wouldn't - could not - remain "cash" sitting in a safe somewheres? Social Security monies by law have to earn interest?
I'm not saying it's right Congress raided it in the past, it was not. But it's certainly not a disaster or non-payment threat as you falsely imply.
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The Fed government is sadly incapable of surviving all its giveaways w/o diverting 40% of tax money but it should certainly make an effort to start trying.
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I agree. And getting our income back up to full-time is the first thing we should do. Trying to hang back and work at 70%, while spending at greater than 100% these past 10 years, obviously doesn't work.
We've been worse off before, and been able to financially do just fine. We'll do it again - if adults who can do math prevail. It's easy: 14% GDP income, 25% GDP spending: raise the first, lower the second, make them both about 20%
I think it's prudent in the future to start funding SS with cash, yes. But remember that we do not have any trouble cashing in our bonds and paying ourselves back at all, and don't anticipate a problem for over 25 years.