Liberals are celebrating after Obama’s remarks declaring he will make “Social Security more generous and increase the benefits.”
There is a problem with this, though. The fund, which is a textbook example of a Ponzi scheme, is flat broke, The only way to fix it temporarily would be to raise taxes or increase an already astronomical national debt.
The 2015 Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds report contains a little secret table “that apparently the political appointees, euphemistically called ‘trustees,’ haven’t bothered to view. It’s tucked deep inside the report in appendix table VI.F1. It says the system is $25.8 trillion in the red,” notes Laurence Kotlikoff, author of a book on the program.
Let that sink in… and then realize the figure is about half of the US GDP.
The feds will have to raise payroll taxes by 12.3 percent or almost one third to pay for the benefits promised.
Between 2015 and 2026, the trustees predicted a cash deficit of $1.6 trillion. Since jacking up taxes is politically out of the question, the government will fund the shortfall by increasing the “public” debt.
Politicians routinely dismiss the seriousness of this. They say the debt is a measly $13.1 trillion and borrowing more money would not be a problem.
In fact, the national debt is $210 trillion, or $654,205 per person in the United States.
“To eliminate the shortfall solely through tax increases, the government would have to immediately and permanently raise all federal taxes—personal and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, and Social Security taxes—by 58 percent,” write Kotlikoff and Adam Michel.
It’s an election year, so Democrats promising additional goodies should be expected. The problem left unmentioned is the Ponzi scheme politely called Social Security is mandatory. You’ll have to pay, or your children and grandchildren will.
Imagine Bernie Madoff putting a gun to your head and demanding you “invest” in his scheme or else. That’s pretty much what Social Security is.
Obama’s offering you more goodies at gunpoint.
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