U.S. Politics

[Michael Capasse]

And things are being done Legally now.

  you're worse than 'Richard'

[Royell Storing]

SS money is invested in Trust Funds for other uses. There is "NO SLUSH FUND diversion"
You're delusional.

  "No Slush Fund"?  What do you call that Covert Fund that was used to pay off Women/NDA's that were accusing Reps and Senators of Sexual Harassment? DC has Slush Funds up the ying-yang.

[Michael Capasse]

  "No Slush Fund"?  What do you call that Covert Fund that was used to pay off Women/NDA's that were accusing Reps and Senators of Sexual Harassment? DC has Slush Funds up the ying-yang.

Cite your source that any money was paid out of SS.
I wonder how many of those accused Reps and Senators were Republican 

Trump certainly had a plan for "Stormy" - How did that work out?

[Charles Collins]

I had previously read that LBJ was the first president to raid the SS funds. But this article at least tries to refute that idea.

https://tucson.com/business/national-and-international/article_95acb962-0386-5fd5-a1e6-642ed9bb3567.html

Maybe we need to start indicating which set of the government’s books we are discussing before we decide who is doing what with which funds? Or is that article just another BS spin on things?

[Michael Capasse]

I'm talking about Social Security fund. - 1983 - Reagan was the first.

"While every US president since 1983 has borrowed from the Social Security trust funds, the practice of using Social Security surpluses for general government expenditures was initiated by President Ronald Reagan"

Funds that are taken from SS fund are invested in Trust funds for other uses
It was W Bush that took $1.7T and never paid it back.

https://meetbeagle.com/resources/post/which-presidents-borrowed-from-the-social-security-fund

"One of the arguments why Social Security is staring at a cash shortfall is that Congress raided the Social Security trust funds and never paid back the money. There were claims that lawmakers comingled the Social Security asset reserves with the General Fund to finance the war and tax cuts. However, these claims are incorrect, and Congress has not pilfered any Social Security monies."

[Richard Smith]

I had previously read that LBJ was the first president to raid the SS funds. But this article at least tries to refute that idea.

https://tucson.com/business/national-and-international/article_95acb962-0386-5fd5-a1e6-642ed9bb3567.html

Maybe we need to start indicating which set of the government’s books we are discussing before we decide who is doing what with which funds? Or is that article just another BS spin on things?

The important point is that more money is going out than coming in.  A lot more.  And that has been the case for a long time.  The US is $38 trillion and counting in debt.   All the money coming in goes into a big pot from which all the outgoing spending is funded (social security, wars etc).  Currently, more social security money is being spent than coming in. The differnce has to be made up from other sources.  So if you are spending billions on a war, that money is not available to pay for social security.  That is not sustainable. 

There is:
Option A (the Biden plan aka do nothing) - keep spending, ignore the problem, and leave it to future generations to suffer after the system collapses.  This means establishment politicians don't have to be bearers of bad news and can stay in office. 

Option B (Trump/Musk plan) - acknowledge the problem and try to address it before it becomes a catastrophe.  This means making cuts and some pain for society which translate in taking a popularity hit.  Even that is unlikely to save the situation. 

[Richard Smith]

"So what about the so-called trust fund? It’s often misunderstood. Think of it as an IOU or a promise to pay. When Social Security collected more money than it needed to provide benefits, as it did before 2010, the surplus wasn’t saved in a vault or invested. Instead, the government spent it on other expenses, and the Department of the Treasury wrote an IOU note to the Social Security Administration. Now that Social Security is cashing in those IOUs to cover the shortfall between income and expenses, it’s like borrowing money to pay off credit cards—the trust fund adds to the government’s overall debt.

Part of the confusion comes from thinking of Social Security and the Treasury as separate entities, with Social Security having assets on its balance sheet that the Treasury is on the hook for. However, taxpayers are on the hook for the government’s spending and borrowing. Since Social Security and the Treasury are both part of the government, we should think of them as one entity to fully understand Social Security’s financial impact on the American people."

[Charles Collins]

"So what about the so-called trust fund? It’s often misunderstood. Think of it as an IOU or a promise to pay. When Social Security collected more money than it needed to provide benefits, as it did before 2010, the surplus wasn’t saved in a vault or invested. Instead, the government spent it on other expenses, and the Department of the Treasury wrote an IOU note to the Social Security Administration. Now that Social Security is cashing in those IOUs to cover the shortfall between income and expenses, it’s like borrowing money to pay off credit cards—the trust fund adds to the government’s overall debt.

Part of the confusion comes from thinking of Social Security and the Treasury as separate entities, with Social Security having assets on its balance sheet that the Treasury is on the hook for. However, taxpayers are on the hook for the government’s spending and borrowing. Since Social Security and the Treasury are both part of the government, we should think of them as one entity to fully understand Social Security’s financial impact on the American people."

Yes, the article I linked to said that the Social Security fund invested its assets. However, it also said that the Social Security investments were, you guessed it, government bonds. Therefore, by definition, the government is borrowing money from the Social Security funds. I don’t see how anyone could say otherwise. It is definitely time for some changes I think.