Reply #37: So what you are saying is that the dollars collected are merely #'s

[rasputin1952]

and said Trust Fund is merely paper with nothing to back it up?

I do not believe there is a vault someplace with said cash in it, but what I get from your posting is that all of the monies collected are merely a wisp of smoke and the stroke of a pen. There has to be something to back it up.

If I deposit $10 in an savings account, I can remove said $10 with a mere slip of paper, the bank does not have all of its assets in the bank, but they have to be backed up somewhere. They need to be able to draw on account to cover their obligations, and have some on hand to cover operations. Once they reach zero on their ledgers they cannot continue to pass cash onto their customers.

Same for SS, once they reach zero, they need to borrow to meet obligations. The funds that have been coming in from the Boomers more than meets obligations..."excess" funds are shifted to other items. It may be merely an accounting procedure, but it is still looting one fund to cover other obligations.

It takes a brave individual to tell people that we need to raise income to cover obligations, in this country, that means raising taxes. Suddenly there is a great uproar from some in the masses, the squealing can be heard across the nation, but these same people demand services from the same government they would love to starve to death. So tax cuts emerge as the solution to a host of ills...then funds must be found for things like Police and Fire Dept's, funded to a good extent by Federal tax dollars. These dollars dry up, SS has a larger account than what they need to pay out...the accountants go to work, shifting cash from one fund to another...much as if I were to go into someones savings account and move some of their account into mine...that's stealing. It is what congress has been doing for years.