Our FICA Taxes were meant to be KEPT separate from our National Budget and National Debt.
They WERE intended to pay for our retirement security -- BY LAW;
and NOT intended to be lumped in with the Govt's Operating Budget:
[...] some people refer to the bonds in the Social Security Trust Fund as "worthless IOU's." This characterization is inaccurate. The bonds in the Trust Fund are as real as any U.S. Savings Bond that you might happen to own. The Social Security program loaned this money to the federal government and has a legal right to receive it back with interest.[29]
This can be a difficult concept to grasp, because it doesn't make sense that the federal government owes money to a federal program like Social Security. The key to keeping this straight in your head is to be aware of the following facts:
- The Social Security program levies its own taxes.[30]
- The finances of the Social Security program are separated by law from the rest of the federal government.[31]
Social Security is NOT the Problem ...
So what is?
Link to intro quote: The Impact of Social Security on the National Debt By James D. Agresti and the Staff of Just Facts -- Sep 1, 2001
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Social Security is NOT the cause of the National Debt -- the Govt MAXING OUT all its Credit Cards is.
Social Security not a cause of, and not a solution to, national debt
by Jay Bookman -- Sep 7, 2010
It’s not, or at least it shouldn’t be, about Social Security.
Social Security is neither the cause of nor the solution to our nation’s financial problems.
[...]
The facts are as follows:
- With no changes in taxes or benefits, Social Security can continue to pay 100 percent of all promised benefits between now and 2036. It can do so by tapping a $2.5 trillion trust fund created precisely to cover the retirement years of the Baby Boom generation.
- Beginning in 2037, and for every year thereafter, Social Security would be able to pay recipients only 76 percent of promised benefits.
- That post-2037 gap could be closed with relatively minor fixes. For example, raising combined SSI payroll taxes from 12.4 to 14.4 percent would cover the bill entirely. A combination of a slight payroll tax increase, applying the tax to earned income above the current tax ceiling of $106,000 and adjusting scheduled cost-of-living increases could also eliminate the gap relatively painlessly.
Social Security is NOT the Problem ...
So what is?
Our inability to Pay as we Go.
Our inability to Raise Taxes to Pay as we Go.
Our inability to let the Unpaid for, Irresponsible Bush Tax Cuts, expire, as required BY LAW.
larger
It's time to stop blaming the Social Security Trust Fund -- for being SO Successful and for floating Govt a Loan -- to fight its endless wars.
It's Time for American Taxpayers, especially the upper income variety, to start Paying the Piper. It's time to stop living on "borrowed time." It's time to Pony up, and make good on our Debts. Those Debts W. left us.
Our FICA Taxes, that every worker pays, are Earmarked.
They are Earmarked to OUR OWN Retirements!
They were never intended to pay for Defense, to pay for Schools, to pay for Roads.
Our FICA Taxes were meant to be separate from our National Budget and National Debt.
They WERE intended to pay for our retirement dignity -- BY LAW!
They are NOT supposed to be lumped in with the Govt's Operating Budget.
The Federal Govt needs to stop squelching on its long term obligations -- by screwing the Lenders of Last Resort --
US !
Social Security is NOT the Problem ...
Our petrifying phobia of Tax Increases, is THE Problem.