[achilles2000]

The money was never there. It was simply spent every year by dumping the amount not immediately Ponzied out to retirees into the general fund. The banks had nothing to do with it.

[mo]

yeah..well Congress will be “ponzying it out “ to the banks rather than to the baby boomers retirements.

[saradippity]

The money was never there. It was simply spent every year by dumping the money into the general fund. The banks had nothing to do with it.

And once the money was in the general fund it was used as part of the monies available to fund any program the politicians and bureaucrats wanted to spend it on.

I think that only happened about twenty five years ago and there was quite a tahoo about it. Do you recall?

[NVDave]

Small nit: The money was first laundered (in a way) by buying US Treasury debt issued as Congress spent more money than we had tax revenues coming in.

So the SS surplus wasn’t ‘spent’ so much as ‘used to buy debt payable by future tax revenues.’ The proceeds from selling that debt (to the Social Security fund, among other investors) was then spent.

You’re right that the banks had nothing to do with it. This is all the fault of Congress.