A lot of doomsday Republicans have been saying that Social Security would be going broke some time in the future. Democrats have been dismissing that as just scare tactics and that Social Security was sound as a dollar. As recently as February of this year CNBC was telling us that it isn't until 2017 that Social Security is expected to be paying out more than it is receiving. A little over a year ago, while celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Social Security, then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "blasted Republicans for trying to privatize the fund", according to The Hill.
At an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Social Security Act, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) blasted Republicans for trying to privatize the fund, saying the change would have resulted in the trust fund incurring a massive loss because of the recent downturn in the stock market.And now it looks like Social Security has run out of money in 2011 and a partial privatization might have been a good hedge against the vagaries of the Federal Budget Crisis.
“Just five years ago, President Bush and his Republican allies pushed a risky plan to privatize and cut Social Security,” she said. “If they had succeeded, seniors would have lost trillions more in the financial crisis. At the time, Democrats and the American people said ‘no.’ And no one lost a penny in Social Security, even as America’s households lost more than $17 trillion in wealth.”
Maybe the President didn't really mean what he said and the checks are going to go out regardless, because the money is coming out of the Social Security Trust Fund.
I think we are still watching Debt Limit Kubuki.
Hat tip to the Instapundit.
Regards — Cliff
5 comments:
I took the comments as a craven admission of what we've known for a long time--the government has been tapping into Social Security surpluses for operating cash for decades, and they're no longer in a position to make good on those borrowings. The paper solvency of Social Security has not yet been un-done--what we're dealing with right now is the consequence of our government robbing our national retirement nest egg and finally getting caught with its hand in the cookie jar.
The republicans should insist on payments from the trust fund and watch Obama go to the people about it.
I am very concerened that the Republicans are going to sneak away from the Debt Ceiling by giving Obama unilateral authority. Why are they so craven on this? They can't satisfy the "Hell No" bloc and their traditional business interests. Lets get serious and strike a deal to cut the deficit (restructure Medicare, fix Social Security, military pensions, etc.) and face up the increased revenues needed.
By the way, the logic in the blog wasn't clear: why would privitization or even partial privitazation have saved us from the current situation?
Privatization would have provided "some" payments if the "Federal checks" stopped.
Sure, the Republicans can turn it over to the President, but I hear Lance saying that it is time for Republicans to cry "¡No Pasaran!. Is that the case? Is now the acceptable time (2 Corinthians 6:2)?
Regards — Cliff
That Social Security Trust Fund was tapped to give the big tax breaks to the rich, the greatest transfer of wealth in history.
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