from
(snip)"For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits -- billions more each year.
Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes -- nearly $29 billion more.
...
Social Security will also collect about $120 billion in interest on the [ special US Treasury Bond based - sic ] trust funds, according to the CBO projections, meaning its overall balance sheet will continue to grow. The interest, however, is paid by the government, adding even more to the budget deficit.
...
The national debt — the amount of money the government owes its creditors — is about $12.5 trillion, or nearly $42,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. About $8 trillion has been borrowed in public debt markets, much of it from foreign creditors. The rest came from various government trust funds, including retirement funds for civil servants and the military. About $2.5 trillion is owed to Social Security.
Good luck to the politician who reneges on that debt, said Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic congresswoman from Connecticut who is now president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
"Those [ Special US Treasury - sic ] bonds are protected by the full faith and credit of the United States of America," Kennelly said. "They're as solid as what we owe China and Japan.""(snip)



Reply With Quote

Bookmarks