Posted by
Always To The Right on Saturday, October 28, 2006 6:37:27 AM
The Social Security Trust fund is a myth, so is the fact that you have a "right" to Social Security. The Supreme Court decided that in the case Fleming v. Nestor case. The Congress can change the full retirement age, who can get Social Security, tax rate, the "cap" on yearly payment and on and on this can be done at any time.
The trust fund will keep Social Security solvent-on paper. But it
cannot delay the need for tax increases or spending cuts by a day or
reduce them by a dollar. The reason: the trust fund holds special-issue
government bonds (really just IOUs), and when Social Security redeems
them the government will have to raise taxes or cut other spending to
produce the needed cash. As you can see below it is as soon as 2017 when revenues fall below costs. President Bush wanted to do something about it this year and who stopped him? All we hear from the Democrats is they want to "protect Social Security from Bush's scheme to privatize it" don't let them try to tell you things don't get bad until about 2040 as it is now there is only about 11 years before it hits the fan. Also ask them what they are going to do with the more than $13 trillion in unfunded obligation?
The 2006 Social Security Trustees Report shows little change
in the projected financial status of the Social Security program
over last year. The Trustees Report projects that the Social Security
Trust Funds will be exhausted in 2040 – one year sooner than last
year’s projection. And, as they have done for more than a
decade, the Trustees recommend that projected trust fund deficits
be addressed in a timely way to allow for gradual changes and advance
notice to workers.
In the 2006 Annual Report to Congress, the Trustees announced:
-
The projected point at which tax revenues will fall below
program costs comes in 2017 -- the same as the estimate in
last year’s
report.
-
The projected point at which the Trust Funds will be exhausted
comes in 2040 -- one year earlier than the projection in last
year’s report.
-
Over the 75-year period, the Trust Funds require additional
revenue equivalent to $4.6 trillion in today’s dollars
to pay all scheduled benefits. This unfunded obligation is
$600 billion higher than the amount estimated last year.