[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.

[achilles2000]

Yes, but the Treasury debt was special non-negotiable issue. In essence, the feds were writing themselves IOUs that amounted to a promise to tax the living daylights out of children not yet born to keep the Ponzi scheme going. Of course, Ponzi schemes must always collapse, and many of us here are part of the “lucky” generation that will be left holding the bag. Still, that is better than continuing with intergenerational theft that SS represents.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

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.

Yeah, the Social Security Administration, an arm of the government, bought IOUs from the Treasury - also an arm of the government.

So the "I owe yous" are actually "I owe mes." Which are, inherently, meaningless and worthless.

Any attempt to obtain dollars from them will simply dilute the value of the dollar, which is also government debt.

The Sword of Damocles hanging over retirees is not the discontinuation of Social Security but the radical dilution of the scarcity, and thus the value, of the dollar.