The Social Security Board of Trustees releasted its latest
report on the health of the Social Security system, and has
projected that the cost of benefits will exceed payroll tax
revenues in 2016 -- a year sooner than last year's report.
If that isn't depressing enough, "Medicare's financial status is
much worse," the Trustees conclude. "As was
true in 2008, Medicare's Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund is
expected to pay out more in hospital benefits and other
expenditures this year than it receives in taxes and other
dedicated revenues. The difference will be made up by redeeming
trust fund assets. Growing annual deficits are projected to
exhaust HI reserves in 2017..."
This is the financial time bomb on top of which Obama has signed
or proposed trillions in new spending, including pushing for
national health care, the cost of which is likely to be around
$1.5 trillion over the next ten years.
