It isn't true. Social Security does not affect the DEFICIT. It does affect the national debt. Those are two different things. By law (since 1937), Social Security must invest any excess revenue in Treasury bonds. Treasury bonds *are* debt instruments. They must - and always have been - repaid when
Meta is getting involved in this over in Facebook. They have tagged me three times. I ended up deleting. Come to find out Meta uses the services of THE DISPATCH. This guy is involved. You can notice how he views the politics.
It really is hard too get the word out and get pummeled by it all. I am going to still stay on for a while to make sure, at least in the DFW groups, they are seeing articles and data outside of this red state.
More evidence of the .01% manipulating the rest of us. If Dems are truly protecting us, then they need to use the Constitution to stop Trump in his oligarch steps.
He is an adjudicated insurrectionist and cannot hold office. He even promising pardons to other insurrectionists (aid & comfort).
Exactly! I never understood why the cap was placed on the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) part. But the rich normally are not paid in wages..but in capital gains, more complicated 🤔
"The meme’s claim and Smith’s argument circle back to how Social Security funds are managed. Experts say words like "borrow" and "raid" don’t really capture how the system works."
That link seems to agree that SS money was not "borrowed" and yet the last paragraph says:
"Money that the federal government BORROWS, whether from investors or from Social Security, is used to finance the ongoing operations of the government in the same way"
OK let me explain, if I may? The problem is that the way people use the word implies that the borrowing is illicit. As in Congress just puts its hand in the till. Which is not at all the case. It is a matter of law that the excess revenue is invested in Treasury bonds. Any money paid for a Treasury
bond,whether purchased by Social Security, another federal agency, a foreign government, or the general public, goes into that general fund (the "Treasury"). When you buy a Treasury bond, the government is borrowing from you. A bond secures a debt.
I think it’s a myth that money has been taken from the SS trust fund. It will still run out though, because they refuse to increase the wage cap for SS taxes.
It was the GOP who started calling the benefits "entitlements" which they are not! They are earned benefits through a lifetime of working. They started calling it "entitlements" because of the negative connotation and because their ultimate goal is to privatize it.
They ARE entitlements and that is a GOOD THING. In the context of federal budget policy, the word "entitlement" is synonymous with "mandatory." MUST BE PAID. Not subject to the annual discretionary appropriations process.
So long as the program remains a governmental one and isn't privatized as the right has dreamed about since it was created. The word "entitlement" gives them cover to offload it to the private sector. Stop calling these "earned benefits" entitlements regardless of what the bill that created it says.
It's not them that I'm worried about. It's the younger generations that they draw support from who we need to consider in regards to what language we use. Language is dynamic unless it's a dead one like Latin. What meanings the words had in 64 don't apply to today's language.
No. They called it Social Security not "entitlement program". The entitlement moniker was bestowed by the GOP precisely because of its negative connotation (only brats feel entitled to anything).
Social Security is now and always was classified as an entitlement program, but you are absolutely on point about how the entitled class in the GOP has edged this tone into their discussions. I literally cannot remember us calling them out effectively on this issue of tone.
The language you use matters. I'm budget flights it's easier to throw entitlements under the bus than to reduce earned benefits. They know this and have purposefully directed this nomenclature.
Yes they have. What can we do to uplift and change the narrative of Social Security? They have been trying to get rid of it so their taxes won't go up to repay the money they borrowed from it. Insane, right?
We should never have let Congress break the law and steal from Social Security. Never. They shouldn't have solved their problems with our money. The law specifically said 'no.'.
They did not break the law and they did not steal anything. Since 1937, the law has required that Social Security invest its excess revenue in Treasury bonds. The money paid by Social Security for those bonds goes into the general fund (aka the Treasury) where it is available to fund all government
Facebook tagged this image as partially true. I remember Congress taking money from the Social Security fund, more than once. Why? Because my mother bitched about them taking using money we pay for our retirement for other stuff.
I worked for decades and paid in to Social Security. Now that I'm disabled, and only have SSDI to survive on, billionaires are stealing it.
Are seniors and disabled people supposed to just die? For many of us, no Social Security means no money. No medication means death for many Americans.
I remember Repugs laughing at Al Gore saying Social Security should be in a ‘lockbox’…. Meaning politicians shouldn’t be able to borrow against it. Period.
Comments
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/02/14/facts-about-the-us-national-debt/
He is an adjudicated insurrectionist and cannot hold office. He even promising pardons to other insurrectionists (aid & comfort).
https://bsky.app/profile/pinktweets.bsky.social/post/3lffctwi2fs2b
https://bsky.app/profile/pinktweets.bsky.social/post/3lffczycb4c2b
I have never read a description of SS that is simple and understandable.
This comes a bit close, but it's still a mess to understand:
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/aug/03/facebook-posts/did-george-w-bush-borrow-social-security-fund-war-/
"The meme’s claim and Smith’s argument circle back to how Social Security funds are managed. Experts say words like "borrow" and "raid" don’t really capture how the system works."
What DOES capture how it works? Fucked if I know.
That link seems to agree that SS money was not "borrowed" and yet the last paragraph says:
"Money that the federal government BORROWS, whether from investors or from Social Security, is used to finance the ongoing operations of the government in the same way"
But I keep reading "That's not how it works".
I wish someone explained it in ways I can understand.
We are entitled by law.
"...shall be entitled to an old-age insurance benefit..."
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section402&num=0&edition=prelim
https://www.tiktok.com/@keds_economist/video/7439400020622773550?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/understanding-the-social-security-trust-funds-0
https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/understanding-the-social-security-trust-funds-0
Are seniors and disabled people supposed to just die? For many of us, no Social Security means no money. No medication means death for many Americans.
And here we are.