Bad news for Social Security

[Gene_SC]

Social Security and Medicare both facing depletion of trust funds sooner because of recession .

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government's two biggest benefit programs, have worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives.

Trustees of the programs said Tuesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner.

Medicare is in even worse shape. The trustees said the program for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year and will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than the date projected in last year's report.

The trust funds -- which exist in paper form in a filing cabinet in Parkersburg, W.Va. -- are bonds that are backed by the government's "full faith and credit" but not by any actual assets. That money has been spent over the years to fund other parts of government. To redeem the trust fund bonds, the government would have to borrow in public debt markets or raise taxes.

[North Pack]

Money put into Social Security should put into a "dedicated trust" - and not the general funds, for Congress to use for ANY other purpose. Medicare is another story, - and is probably about to sink us eventually.

[Bhawanna]

yep....we can thank president johnson for that one!!!!!!.....another democrat!  wasn't it in 1963 or 1964 that he put the social security money into the general fund?

[Gene_SC]

No Roger it was JFK who initiated the bill to have our SS money put in the general fund. Backed by government promise notes......

[only1harry]

Oh but the government can give Wall Street (the rich) - Brokerage firms and Banks, $700B to get their companies back on track.. and cannot contribute a penny into these other programs?  All they had to do is put that money $ into Medicare and SS.  

This is also a result of not enough young people working.  There are more older people in this country than young.  The days when people used to have 3-6 kids are over.  The middle class American couple has 1.6 kids on average so we have 2 grandparents per 1.6 children, not good.  I have been contributing to Soc.Security for almost 28yrs and it really bothers me that I will not be able to collect hardly anything because my retirement date is 2032.  I will be 67 then but there are strong rumors that they are trying to push the retirement age to 70 so they only have to pay out a couple of years before we leave this world.  

Of course the 10+% unemployment rate does not help the situation either.  Most of the counties in NY where I live have 11-14% unemployment.  The Government is not publishing the true unemployment figures.  Make no mistake about it.  It's well into the double digits.  If they released that information, the stock market would crash again.  Something they don't want because they would have to give out another $700B so the rich that lost $ in stocks can be rich again.

[TCups]

All Ponzi schemes end up badly, even if you can print your own money.  But hey, I wouldn't worry about Social Security.  That shortfall will be chump change compared to the "Mother of All (unfunded) Entitlements -- government run, single payer socialized medicine.