[Pearls Before Swine]

They are accounted for separately, but from an overall budgetary perspective, they are just another fungible money item. As to the cashflow problems of Social Security, here's one link to an article earlier this year stating that this is now the case: NPR Article--Social Security Goes Negative

A quick search on "Social Security Negative Cashflow" turns up a lot of references.

[hal ogen]

While I may be at some risk, I am willing to let the “deadline” expire to see what happens. These political class morons are so full of it on so many levels. If human history is a guide, if the worse happens their heads will be on pikes anyway.

[ngat]

You miss the point of the original post. Everyone knows that with the surge of “baby-boomers” taking SS retirement benefits, and medicare, the system is threatened at the current level of medicare and SS taxation. If, in this down economy, SS actually nuns a deficit this year, who am I to argue with a writer for NPR? Hadn’t heard any big reports being made by the trustees about that. Likewise we all know of the trust fund accounting with the IOU’s and all. The point is, the politicians want to take discretionary spending, defense spending, and entitlement spending, mix them all up, decide without any input from the people on how we would want this money distributed. In this way, they get to do a complete makeover, hide their past bonehead decisions and skulduggery, come up with a NEW New Deal, and shove it down our throats.