[Little Ray]

Lesee. Congress is spending every dime Social Security takes in, either on Social Security or on Federal items. There is no trust fund, no banked money, nothing but some non-binding IOUs.

The money is not there and the IOUs are worthless, but they say that Social Security is not running a deficit. Only by accounting standards.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Congress is spending every dime Social Security takes in, either on Social Security or on Federal items. There is no trust fund, no banked money, nothing but some non-binding IOUs.

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Here’s the author’s argument... take a machete and hack away.

Social Security is projected to have reserves at the end of 2013 $41 billion higher than it had at the start of the year. At the end of 2014, its reserves are projected to rise by another $42 billion. In 2020, reserves are projected to be $285 billion higher than at the end of 2013.

What this means is that Social Security is currently running not deficits but surpluses. It means that talk of a pension crisis is poppycock.

To be sure, the rising flood of retiring baby-boomers mean that deficits will eventually emerge. Raising revenues or lowering benefits to prevent them from happening is vitally important. These changes are better addressed sooner than later, but cries of ‘crisis’ are baseless.

[ksen]

There is no trust fund, no banked money, nothing but some non-binding IOUs.

Since when are treasury bonds "non-binding IOUs"?