There is no “Trust Fund”
There never was a “Trust Fund”
The Trust Funds are nothing but an accounting gimmick and a way to transfer the surplus, when there was a surplus, to the General Fund.
It is not possible for any person to write himself an IOU and take that note to the bank.
You can not sign both lines and have a document that is worth anything.
We can not do it individually.
No corporation can do it.
No government can do it.
Every penny paid out in benefits will come from current tax revenue or current borrowing. The government can not “sell” a bond without getting someone to “BUY” a bond.
The Trust Funds do not increase or decrease the net worth of America by a single penny. They void themselves out. The debit and the credit balance out to ZERO!
Well, yes, there was. Until Lyndon Johnson. Who, in 1966, adopted the "unified budget" -- where there had been a "government operating budget" and a "Social Security budget."
"Mah frens...and you are mah frens...at present, we have these two pots of mahney. Now, in this pot, the mahney comes in from income taxes...and goes out over heah in the "operatin' budget". But, in this pot over heah, the mahney comes in from Sosh Security taxes...and goes out to the Sosh Security recipients.
But if we put all the mahney comin' in into jes' one pot, we can affahd to faht both a Wah in Viet Nam and a Wah Agin' Pahvety..."
At that point, I knew we'd been had.