Today, president Obama told CBS News in an interview that he could not guarantee that social security checks would go out on August 3 if no deal were reached on raising the debt ceiling. This is not an inadvertant mistake by Obama; many hours have now passed without any "clarification" coming from the white House spokesman. So what does it mean? The simple answer is that Obama is in favor of stealing the funds paid into the social security trust fund by generations of Americans. I use the word "stealing" because that is exactly what it is, theft, criminal theft to boot!
Let's go back to the basic structure of social security to make this all clear. Ever since the start of the social security program in the 1930's, almost all American workers and their employers have paid a portion of each paycheck into the social security system. According to the law, there is a social security trust fund which holds the excess payments made into the system. By law, the trust fund is invested in US government securities like treasury bonds and notes. At the moment, the trust fund contains trillions of dollars of treasury bonds. That means that even if the US government cannot borrow money for its other needs, it has a pile of assets worth trillions of dollars from which to make social security payments. Without a doubt, Obama as president of the USA is well aware of this fact.
Indeed, even beyond the money that is in the trust fund, there are payroll tax receipts that are pouring into Washington from the FICA tax, the tax used to fund social security and only social security. So, come August 3, the government can tap the receipts of the FICA tax in order to make the social security payments. If there is a shortfall, then some of the treasury bonds held in the trust fund can be sold to the public. This is not the issuance of new debt which would be prohibited. No, it is instead the resale of bonds that were issued long ago. Indeed, the trust fund may even make a profit by selling some bonds that have higher interest rates that the ones currently prevailing.
Simply put, the social security system by law has more than ample money to make all payments on August 3 and for many years after that, even if there is never an increase to the US debt ceiling.
Nevertheless, Obama threatens the elderly with the possible loss of their monthly checks. If he carries out this threat, then he is stealing the money from thos to whom it belongs by law. It is, in my opinion, a high crime and misdemeanor of the type that merits impeachment of the president. On the other hand, if Obama does not stop payment of social security on August 3 (which is the most likely), then there is no crime. There is, however, a terribly disgraceful action by the president. Obama is scaring many poor elderly people who rely on their checks and who do not understand the actual workings of the social security law. After all, if the president of the United States says on television that there may not be checks in August for social security recipients, most folks would think that he was telling the truth. Most Americans do not expect that the president would go on TV and lie just to scare poor old folks so that he can score some cheap political points.
Either way, Obama should be condemned. The choice is his. He can be condemned for stealing from the trust fund or he can be condemned for intentionally scaring the elderly poor in order to win a political argument. The president is supposed to do what is good for the American people. He is supposed to put the good of the country over the good of his party or of his own re-election. Obama, however, fails on all these measures of propriety.
I say this often, but rarely as with this much anger. OBAMA HAS GOT TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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