-
Adieu, Adieu, Remember Me
March 25, 2011 | 38 comments
-
DeMint’s Defense of RomneyCare is Ignorant…And Dangerous
March 17, 2011 | 85 comments
-
McConnell Pushing Vote to Block the EPA from Regulating Carbon Emissions
March 17, 2011 | 9 comments
-
More Barbour on Afghanistan
March 16, 2011 | 8 comments
-
House Passes Three Week Spending Bill
March 15, 2011 | 8 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Five years ago, when President Bush made his pitch to reform Social Security, the program was projected to start running annual deficits in 2018.
But in its yearly report released today, the Social Security Trustees have projected that due to the weak economy, the program will be paying out more benefits than it collects in taxes in both 2010 and 2011. Anticipating that the economy will recover, the trustees project that program will return to surpluses for a few years, but then, starting in 2015, it will begin consistently running deficits every year.
Defenders of the status quo in Social Security argue that the program is perfectly fine until its trust fund becomes exhausted, which is now projected to happen in 2037. But as I’ve noted before, to draw such a distinction is to pretend that all of the money doesn’t ultimately come from the same bank account (or in this case, the collective bank accounts of American taxpayers).
The Social Security program is financed primarily by payroll taxes. When the amount of tax revenue collected exceeds benefits, the surplus is theoretically put in the trust fund. But in reality, the federal government uses that surplus to finance ongoing government operations, and puts a stack of bonds — or IOUs — in the funds instead. So, while it’s true that for about 27 years, there’s theoretically enough money within the system to keep paying beneficiaries, over the next two years and then consistently after 2015, that money will have to come from somewhere — at a time when the nation is already suffocating under a mountain of debt.
To make the program actuarially solvent over a 75-year period, the trustees note, “the combined payroll tax rate could be increased during the period in a manner equivalent to an immediate and permanent increase of 1.84 percentage points, scheduled benefits could be reduced during the period in a manner equivalent to an immediate and permanent reduction of 12.0 percent, general revenue transfers equivalent to $5.4 trillion in present value could be made during the period, or some combination of approaches could be adopted. Significantly larger changes would be required to maintain solvency beyond 75 years.”
View all comments (14) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/08/05/social-security-to-start-runni
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The Great Train Robbery
- Screwtape Talks Turkey
- The Vast and the Tiny
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
max| 8.5.10 @ 1:07PM
This would not be an issue if the Feds paid
a respectable interest rate for using SS monies
Dixie Pixie| 8.5.10 @ 1:22PM
Let me get this straight.
The day of reckoning that Bill Clinton swore he fixed has come.
Income will no longer exceed disbursements and the trust fund has been embezzled.
Where did the trust fund money go, just ask Queen Michelle who is on a heartwarming mother-daughter trip. The 7 figure trip is to visit the Spanish Royals next door. Of course she did not fly coach, she took Air Force One. [[ Yes I know by custom it is only called that when the President fly’s, but is that not a Royal custom in itself.]]
Most people don't has the spare cash to have a vacation and certainly don't have the access to the money in the Social Security “Trust Fund”. So blowing a obscene amount of money on a Royal Spanish vacation is outrageous. But that is normal for the Ruling Class.
Forget about auditing the Federal Reserve.
Try auditing Social Security to find out where the embezzled money went.
Of course the Governmental Ruling Class does not fear a criminal prosecution for the embezzled money. They make the rules, we get to pay the bills. So party on Michelle Obama. It was never your money anyway.
Red| 8.5.10 @ 1:25PM
No worry's mate, start cashing in those "Special " bonds in the vault and it's all good! Then we've got plenty of time to sort things out.
Eric Cartman| 8.5.10 @ 2:28PM
Hey! I thought Andy Griffith had his "guaranteed benefits" and that the whole system was as solid as his jail and delicious and Aunt Bea's peach pie! Now we find out its as shaky as Otis on a Saturday night. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Gunna have to nip this thing in the bud, Andy.
Alan Brooks| 8.5.10 @ 2:55PM
And Opie made qwite a Spwash wit his wittle moimaid. How cyutsy.
(Yes, it has nothing whatsoever to do with SS, but I couldn't resist a razz against baldy-- and I don't mean Reiner).
Alan Brooks| 8.5.10 @ 3:00PM
...btw this is the funniest tinhat theory: a guy years ago said "Al, did you ever notice that SS can mean Social Security or Schutz Staffel?"
Di Keaton: "did you ever notice that God is dog spelled backwards?"
Jack Ripper: "did you ever notice how I only drink rain water and grain alcohol?"
Warof2010 | 8.5.10 @ 5:18PM
ready to write a white paper on how to:
fix SS, Medicare, and Medicaid
The lead-in is:
FIRST DEFINE THE PROBLEM,
and the problem hasn't yet been,
and cannot be defined
until the massive fraud is removed from all of them.
Social Security | 8.5.10 @ 5:31PM
And Opie is a spirit qwite Spwash moimaid his wittle. How cyutsy.
(Yes, it has absolutely nothing to do with the SS, but I could not resist a razz Baldy cons - and I do not mean Reiner).