Thanks to COVID-19, Social Security’s day of reckoning may be even closer than we thought
Paul Brandus | April 15, 2020 at 4:46 p.m. ETI’ve mentioned before that Social Security is now dipping into its reserves—the so-called “trust fundâ€â€”to pay benefits. That’s because the system isn’t taking in enough cash from payroll taxes, which is how the gargantuan Social Security program—by far the single biggest source of federal spending—is financed.
Prior to the economic downturn—or collapse—that we’re now experiencing, the trust fund was projected to run out of money by 2035.
This has, practically overnight, gotten worse. Why? Because some 16 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last three weeks. This means there are a lot fewer—millions fewer—people paying those payroll taxes into the Social Security system.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/thanks-to-covid-19-social-securitys-day-of-reckoning-may-be-even-closer-than-we-thought-2020-04-15
The entire premise here is false. There is no trust fund. Money used to pay out Social Security 'benefits' comes directly from the same Treasury that is receiving newly-printed money from the Fed. There is no reserve. It is an expense that is no different from defense spending, agriculture subsidies, food stamps, AFDC, etc. And for the last several years, we have been printing up money (see: Weimar Republic) to cover part of that cost.
And it isn't "Thanks to COVID-19". It is thanks to members of Congress for putting us in this situation by refusing to balance the budget for 62 consecutive years and for allowing this ponzi scheme to continue. The sooner the current social security disaster ends, the better. From Day One, they should have allowed workers to take 12.5% of their income and invest it instead of handing it over to government to spend immediately on other things.
