There is no money, but there are assets, you are absolutely correct. Sell them off, pay out a lump some, and get rid of the idiocy. Entitlements are ALWAYS a problem with the budget (though I understand the spirit of your statement), because there is no constitutional basis for it, and the moneis supposed to be used for them are all gone. It’s like saying the ever increasing fee’s on your increasing number of payday loans (like our 40% debt service) aren’t the problem because your still making payments, and you have things to sell. Sure that may be true now, but unlike that simple (payday loan) example, the actions that the government takes don’t just eat up a portion of the income, they also hinder/stifle the current market. People have less money to save/produce/invest when taxes into financial oblivion which snowballs.
Another FReeper posted an article about something called the “Theory of Snowballs” or something to the effect, which talks about how many (most in the authors view) things in life happen and change at an exponential rate that is imperceptible for a long time, and then very, very sudden. That’s what’s happening now, because the more money we borrow for the general fund, the more interest we have, meaning the less money we have, so the more we are taxes, which decreases the revenue, causing a further need to borrow and a higher interest payment. It’s simple math. Better to pay out the obligations, take the hit now, and fix what’s broken, than to justify the broken system and try to save it (thus increasing the exponential rate at which it grows). That’s what I’m trying to get across, but I completely agree with you post, that we have the funds to back it.
Remember where there is little incentive to produce, nothing gets produced, that is the problem we face today, and it is ALWAYS the INEVITABLE outcome of ANY form of Socialism. Always. No matter how trivial anything can seem or how easy it is to sell as paying for your future (SS), it’s only the camel’s nose in the tent.
Wrong, an IOU is not an asset of any tangible value.
Entitlements have had sufficient dedicated taxes collected to pay for them. Alas Congress has been spending the money on other things anyway, but that doesn’t mean the accounting no longer favors the entitlements ~ just that all that other stuff is living on borrowed funds and should be stopped.
Sure, that means we don't have that $29 billion anymore once we pay it, but that's a very small part of the national budget.