Ron said... "No, once the Trust Fund is depleted, SS can only payout at the rate that money comes in unless Congress authorizes the use of general revenues to make up the shortfall. IIRC, the Trust Fund was depleted in 1982."
you are incorrect. the benefits owed to retirees and the disabled are mandated by law. there is no law that says if the trust fund balance goes to zero that the social security suddenly pays out less benefits. to wit, the actual law: " in any case in which the Secretary of the Treasury determines that the assets of either such Trust Fund would otherwise be inadequate to meet such Fund’s obligations for any month, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to such Trust Fund on the first day of such month the amount which would have been transferred to such Fund under this section as in effect on October 1, 1990; and such Trust Fund shall pay interest to the general fund on the amount so transferred on the first day of any month at a rate (calculated on a daily basis, and applied against the difference between the amount so transferred on such first day and the amount which would have been transferred to the Trust Fund up to that day under the procedures in effect on January 1, 1983) equal to the rate earned by the investments of such Fund in the same month under subsection (d) of this section. " http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/401 the trust fund is a meaningless accounting gimmick used to scare people into giving up the last remaining shreds of the social safety net. -- -Nathan Tankus ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
