Social Security was actually started by Otto Von Bismarck. He conceived it as a hedge against Communism and just because he thought it was a good idea.
Winston Churchill visited Germany when he was young and noticed that all workers had a little card which guaranteed they would be taken care of in their old age. Churchill thought it a good idea and wanted to have the same program in Great Britain.
I always thought Little Johnny's job was to ask his teacher embarrassing questions.
Basically most people worked until they died and did not live nearly so long.
There is a giant glaring lie in this IWB report, it comes in two parts.
First:
(Some people characterize that as the government “borrowing from” or “raiding” Social Security, but the system is in essentially the same position as any other investor who buys Treasuries.)
This is a lie. When you invest in something with a long term payoff, it is the entity that you invested in that provides that payoff. “Social Security” is just another set of accounts in the government’s “checkbook”. When one set of those accounts borrow from another set of those accounts that is do different than you borrowing from yourself - there is no actual “investment”.
Second:
“While the credited interest on all those Treasuries is still more than enough to cover the shortfall, that will only be true until 2020. After that, Social Security will begin redeeming its hoard of Treasuries for cash to continue paying benefits – as was the plan all along.”
Having already paid for what we are due from Social Secuirity, we, the taxpayers are paying additionally, because the interest that we - the treasury - owe us - the social security system - has to be paid out of the general revenue taxes we pay.
Where is the cash the people paid in? It was spent? What did they get for it? An IOU? Whose paying the interest on it? We are in our taxes. Who will have to come up with the cash for the IOUs SS will try to cash in at the treasury? The treasury will. Where will they get the cash? Either with reduced spending in all other areas of federal expenses, or increased general taxes.
Social Security by NOT fully investing the money it received OUTSIDE of the government turned the administration of its finances into the worst ponzi scheme ever imagined.
It does not matter how many people like a Ponzi scheme, because of (Herbert) Stein’s Law:
If something can’t go on forever, it won’t.