Did you know? Of course you did, you read it right here on DU!

[Scuba]

[kimbutgar]

1. Part of our debt is owed to the American worker in the form of IOU's in US Treasury bonds

That is the reason the rethugs wanted to default on the US debt to destabilize the social security fund. It. Would have been a back door way to destroy social security.

[secondvariety]

4. I don't doubt

what you said, but what is the reason anyone would want to destroy S.S.? Most of the GOPer's voting block are S.S. recipients.

[tclambert]

7. Because it's a big pile of money that the wealthy want.

They see it as another big pot that Wall Street investment houses could win.

[GoneFishin]

23. Yep. I read recently read that 401K fees over a lifetime steal as much as $70,000 from each person.

Imagine if all of the SS money were put into the hands of the Wall Street crooks.

[AllyCat]

10. The elections only stand to get more rigged

The corporate rulers don't want to pay money for us. Won't matter who anyone's voting bloc is if this keeps up.

[Lasher]

15. Rich people want to renege on their debt to the Social Security trust fund.

The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund has been built up since 1983 with extra FICA tax revenues on earned income (wages and salaries). Starting soon, the $2.6 trillion trust fund surplus will be spent to help pay Social Security benefits. This is all according to plans laid out three decades ago by Reagan's Greenspan Commission, to accommodate a higher percentage of beneficiaries as Baby Boomers retire.

The federal government runs on revenue from income taxes. We have been borrowing money for the past 3 decades to keep income taxes low. Some of this borrowed money has come from the OASI trust fund.


Most of the wealthiest Americans' money comes from capital gains, interest, and dividends. This is unearned income, so it's not subject to FICA taxes. The top 10% owns almost all the taxable (not in a retirement account) stocks and bonds. The rest of us own almost none. We work for a living and pay FICA taxes on our earned incomes, so the OASI trust fund belongs to us.

Rich people have borrowed our trust fund money to help keep their taxes low, and now they don't want to pay us what they owe. This is why some people want to destroy Social Security. Their leaders are people like Grover Norquist, who are bankrolled by people like the Koch Brothers and the Walton family. Followers include stupid fools like the teabaggers who have fallen for a very well funded hoax.

[Scuba]

21. Great addition to the thread, thanks.

[TransitJohn]

18. So Wall Street can steal the money, of course. eom

n/t

[KansDem]

22. Well, where do you think Wall Street CEOs will get their bonuses?

A lot of bonus-money to be had from robbing Social Security!

[stage left]

2. K&R

[rhett o rick]

3. k&r thanks for posting. nm

[marble falls]

5. Hey Scuba, thanks for your great postings theses last few days. Another winner!

[hue]

6. Great, informative post Scuba! As usual!!

[LiberalEsto]

8. Dumbya and Dickster spent the money on their Iraq war

Shhh! Don't tell anyone!

[Doctor_J]

9. for reasons unknown our party leadership never mentions this

In fact they propagate the lie that SS is in trouble. Maybe they also answer to the privatizers

[Scuba]

11. +1,000

[KG]

12. the reasons aren't unknown for those willing to see what's going on.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. The reason is known

Wall Street wants that money, and they buy politicians on both sides of the aisle.

[CrispyQ]

13. We hear so much talk about China & how much US debt they hold.

My letter to my three on 10/21/13:

If Congress thinks SS is in such dire straights, then why don't you pay it back?

Pay Back the Money Borrowed From Social Security

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-don-riegle/post_1901_b_845106.html

According to the U.S. Treasury Department's "Monthly Statement of the Public Debt of the United States" (9.30.10), the total debt was $13.562 trillion and was held as follows:

US Holders of Debt
42.1 % -- US Individuals and Institutions
17.9 % -- Social Security Trust Fund
6.0 % -- US Civil Service Retirement Fund
2.1 % -- US Military Retirement Fund

Foreign Holders of Debt
11.7 % -- Oil Exporting Countries
9.5 % -- China and Hong Kong
6.3 % -- Japan
1.4 % -- United Kingdom
1.3 % -- Brazil
1.6 % -- All other foreign countries

We hear so much talk about China & how much US debt they hold. The liberal media never talks about how much debt the SS account holds.

Raise the cap & extend Medicare to 55.

Also, tax the damned rich. It's way past time.

[Enthusiast]

16. Kicked and recommended! This thread should have hundreds of recommendations!

This is verboten information on the MSM.

[ctsnowman]

17. K & R

[Stonepounder]

19. Great post and great graphic, but.....

This is old news to anyone with half a brain. The meme that SS is in trouble goes back more than 20 years. I was hearing about how 'SS relies on an accounting gimmick' and 'SS is just full of worthless IOU's' at least 15 years ago. Anyone who is the least bit interested knows that the whole 'problem with SS' would vanish in a puff of smoke if everyone just paid FICA in their income. But the oligarchs don't want to pay any taxes at all. So, they want to destroy SSI so that a) they don't have to pay back all the money that has been borrowed from the SSI trust fund, b) they don't have to pay FICA at all, and c) so that the bankers and Wall St can get their hands on all that lovely FICA money to play with, gamble with, and ultimately steal from us.

[Scuba]

20. You understand this issue quite well. Thanks.

[IronLionZion]

24. Its all a matter of perspective

Yes it has its own payroll taxes and a special trust fund with special bonds, which is largely an accounting fiction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_(United_States)#Trust_fund

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Trust_Fund

The trust fund do not represent a legal obligation to Social Security program recipients, and Congress could cut or raise taxes on such benefits if it chooses, and is considered "intra-governmental" debt, a component of the "public" or "national" debt.

[fasttense]

25. Social Security is a debt obligation of the federal government just like any other debt

From your own link:

"The "Social Security Trust Fund" comprises two separate funds that hold federal government debt obligations related to what are traditionally thought of as Social Security benefits. The larger of these funds is the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which holds in trust special interest-bearing federal government securities bought with surplus OASI payroll tax revenues. The second, smaller fund is the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, which holds in trust more of the special interest-bearing federal government securities, bought with surplus DI payroll tax revenues.

The trust funds are "off-budget" and treated separately in certain ways from other federal spending, and other trust funds of the federal government. From the U.S. Code:

EXCLUSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY FROM ALL BUDGETS Pub. L. 101-508, title XIII, Sec. 13301(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104Stat. 1388-623, provided that: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the receipts and disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund shall not be counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of - (1) the budget of the United States Government as submitted by the President, (2) the congressional budget, or (3) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

The trust funds run surpluses in that the amount paid in by current workers is more than the amount paid out to current beneficiaries. These surpluses are given to the U.S. Treasury (and thus become part of the general federal budget) in exchange for special U.S. government securities, which are deposited into the trust funds. If the trust funds begin running deficits, meaning more in benefits are paid out than contributions paid in, the Social Security Administration is empowered to redeem the securities and use those funds to cover the deficit."

Sounds like any other government debt to me.

Yes, congress can decide not to pay it, like it can decide not to pay China or The Bushes who also hold government debt. And congress already decided not to count it as part of the national debt (Pub. L. 101-508, title XIII, Sec. 13301(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104Stat. 1388-623). And yet the RepubliCONS count it regularly like greedy little men rubbing their hands together and salivating over the mere thought of the value of the Social Security Trust Fund.

[heaven05]

26. thank you

[Sarah Ibarruri]

27. Great post! nt