http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27922-2005Apr5.html
But he missed his chance. He should have said let’s stop using these IOU’s and just use the SS money for what it was intended instead of using the money to make the debt look smaller.
I know the Bush admin is not the first to do this and probably not the last.
Wouldn’t using the SS taxes for what they were intended help save SS? Why not invest them in the stock market that Bush holds in such high esteem? Fannie Mae maybe?
Anything that has a return.
Should this not be brought before congress as a way to save SS?
Because that money is needed to pay the current recipients of this giant Ponzi scheme. That’s one of the criticisms of his ‘private accounts’ plan - the only way to take money from SS and put it anywhere is to borrow it, because there IS no money. Money received today is turned around and paid out to retirees. The scheme depends on those people who put money in today in turn getting their money from future sucke^^^retirees. The problem is that there will be a lot fewer workers supporting those retirees than there are now, hence the fiscal meltdown.
You can leave off the snotty “learn my friend” stuff. I know the money coming in currently exceeds the money going out. The money going in will stop exceeding the money paid out in 2018. After that, the government has to start supplementing it.
Your message said nothing about only putting aside the excess over what is paid out.
The govt doesn’t have to supplement it until 2045 or so. Between 2018 and then it just has to honor the govt bonds in the “file cabinet”, just like it has to honor the ones sold to China and Japan.
Investing the overages in an outside fund…Home mortages…the stock market…or wherever outside of the Govt itself means you don’t have to rob peter to pay paul.
Understand?
BTW…love you location. You decide people didn’t need to know you are Canadian?
Which would mean that T-Bills, which are what the SS trust fund is made up of, are not really backed by the US government. They’re worthless wastepaper.
Your title was “wow…Bush got something right” which implies it is so rare as to be breathtaking when it does happen. And it says nothing about what your debate is aside from that Bush is somehow involved. The whole point of your title seemed to be a swipe at Bush since it certainly didn’t convey any useful information that might help people decide if they want to read your OP.
Great! I’m glad, because I’d hate for you or the President to say that they’re willing to default on all the people who have invested in T-bills, which would include every worker who’s paid social security since the 1980’s. Oh, and all those foreign governments propping up our debt.
I mean, it is a pretty easily understood dichotomy – either the US government stands behind, with full faith and credit, US Treasury bills, or they don’t. And if they do, then there really IS a Social Security trust fund.
“Money” isn’t any different than a T-bill. It’s a piece of paper backed up by the government. Without the government’s backing, meaning a treasury and executive willing to pay it’s debts in that currency, it’s worthless.
If this administration is willing to say “there’s NO money” in the SS fund, that means that T-Bills, the instrument with which the entire deficit and debt of the US goverment is financed, and the SS trust fund, are worthless.
You can’t have it both ways. Either the goverment stands behind it’s debt, and therefore it’s currency, with the full resources of the government, or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, we’re all broke.
