The crisis behind the crisis: Social Security “lock box” has a hole in it

Perhaps a better headline would have said “a bunch of a-holes in it”, namely Congress. Recently Social Security began paying out more than it took in taxes, years ahead of schedule. Even worse, the leak in the box will soon become a flood.

leaking-bucket
Think of the bucket as the Social Security Trust Fund

Bob Krumm explains:

Imagine that my wife and I both work and that she sets aside 15% of her income for retirement and gives that 15% to me. I go through the years spending all of my income, plus all of the 15% that she gives me, plus a little bit more. Eventually, my wife starts to ask questions about her retirement fund. “Relax,” I tell her. “You’ve been ‘earning’ 5% interest on that money.” And I hand her a nice little official looking annual accounting statement to that effect. Unbeknownst to her, I’m only adding that 5% interest to that amount that I “owe” her. In truth, I’ll never pay her that money. It doesn’t exist. It’s already spent, and I don’t have the income earning potential to ever repay it. But–and this is the key point–that amount I owe my wife is not a debt in the legal sense. Sure, I still have other debts; remember, I’ve been spending all of my income, plus 15% of hers, plus a little bit more. That “little bit more” is money that I owe to outside creditors. And I will have to pay them back or they will make my life miserable. When my wife finds out that there is no money for her, my life will be miserable too. But that’s a different kind of misery–one that will lead to a bitter and nasty divorce.

We are the wife, the political class is the husband. When the wife finds out, the husband will be out on his ass. That’s what all the fuss is really all about.

– Written by Bonfire of the Absurdities

Source: BobKrumm.com

This post was last modified on July 3, 2021

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View Comments (48)

  • The SS "Lockbox" has about as much of value in it as Al Capone's vault (anyone remember that epic-fail two-hour Geraldo show??)

      • I Thing Geraldo has more "Jump the Shark" moments than anyone in the media.
        I honestly believe FOX News keeps him around for comic relief.

        • Yeah what is up with that? He seems so out of place there. He sided with Casey Anthony because she was the underdog? I would have thought her daughter that died was the underdog of this whole situation. It is insane.

  • If Bob Krumm's house worked like the government, he'd just tell his wife to start making babies. Then he could pass the debt onto the kids and let them figure out how to save for their own retirements when half their paychecks are being used to support mom & dad.

  • Social Security is the biggest pyramid scam ever and no one is willing to admit that any one who has paid into and has not yet began to with draw from it will get very little if any thing at all.

    Social Security has been given to just about anyone who wonders into an office and asks for it. As long as they are illegal or unwilling to work, they can get social security and screw the ones that have paid into it.

    The reason that the dummies in congress oppose privatizing it, it will prevent them from using it as their personal bank to pass out to whom ever that they just wish to have it and screw the ones who are paying the freight.

    • No, actually, there's a lot of people out there who are truly unable to work, through no fault of their own, and they get denied.

      • This is true and for those that can not take care of themselves I'm all for getting them the assistance and all. However, when I come in contact with "individuals" who ask how will I get my check if you take me to jail? I want to SCREAM. Or better yet, the illegals who can not "speak English" until you start counting their money and checking their welfare cards. Boy the English comes out really well then.

  • I'd love to have access to the $$ that I have paid into SS. Tack on the $$ that my employers paid in on my behalf and my ass would be retired by now. I'm not taking SS into account for my own retirement planning and noboby else should either. If SS is there when I pull the plug, it'll be gravy!

  • If Social Security is so great, why do Federal employees have their own retirement system?If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling will the administration suspend contributions to FERS, or hold up Social Security checks?

    • Fed employees have their own pension system as companies might have, but pay into Social Security also. Is there some other fed system out there in some area of its vastness??

      • ...well, they have 401 (k)'s, and their pension plans are not a target for being lost in some scam a la Enron. Anybody else is forced to rely upon social security. The existence of Social Security is the justification behind so many companies ending their pension plans.

        For many years, the concept of a "lock box" was a polite fiction that all politicians cooperated in because the person that admitted it was fiction would be the one hung for saying it was empty. The fiction is gone thanks to Obama -- because he wasn't bright enough to realize how far sh*t can splatter. While I think he is a total heel for admitting that paying seniors is an option in his opinion, he will certainly suffer the political consequences of that enormously stupid utterance.

        I used to think that Biden was the one that couldn't control his mouth -- who knew it was a "stupid politician trick" competition?

        • — who knew it was a “stupid politician trick” competition?

          Looks like Obama is due for another appearance on Letterman!

          • Spare me. My foam rubber brick gets a helluva workout whenever his festering gob shows up on TV.

            I relabeled my MUTE button to read SYFLH (Shut Your F*cking Lie Hole), but it still does nothing about the sight of him flapping his gums about class warfare..

    • The same question can be made of Obamacare... IF it is grand how come Congresspeople and the President are exempt? And why does he give exemptions to his friends and supporters? and why so many corporations where able to get exemptions?

  • I know that I won't be using SS. So I am of course making other plans... what pisses me off is that I am paying for someone else's SS and no one is going to pay for mine (not that I want to, because it isn't fair). So I want NOT to pay into that pyramid scheme but I am forced to do it and I think it is unconstitutional.

    • You are right KQ, it is unconstitutional. It's always been unconstitutional but it wears sheep's clothing and walks among us as one of our own. It looks like law, and sounds like law, and it walks like law, but it is in fact Presidential, Legislative, and Judicial fiat and one of the most intrusive and heavy-handed administrations that came into existence to enforce this wholesale theft was the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.). Just try not paying your unconstitutionally confiscated income they call taxes and see where you end up. Hell, you'll end up wearing Khaki scrubs and pushing a broom, eating bad food, sleeping in an all metal bunk-bed, and have a butt ugly, partially toothless, heavily tatooed, butch bunkmate named "Billy!"

      • For real. The guy from "Coach" said that if a few million of us decided not to pay our taxes the system will get so overwhelmed that they cannot put everyone in prison and they will have to change these ridiculous laws that allows them to rapes us financially. I think he is right. Overall we are being raped, the laws are destroying our freedoms and I dont want to be mean but Americans of the past that did nothing about it are at fault and we are still at fault for continuing to do nothing. Because we (the producers and law abiding citizens) are good people we want to do the right thing and we dont want to get in trouble nor have criminal records and so on and so forth. These people count on that, on us just allowing the rape to continue because it is better than going to prison and so on. We need Washingtons, Jeffersons, Adamses, Hancocks, etc... in this country again.

  • It is high time we give our young people the chance to opt out and fend for themselves by making their own investments for retirement.

    But, but, if we disband SSI, how are we going to identify ourselves to our doctors, credit card companies, and everyone else that requires a SSAN to do any paperwork?

  • Social Security has morphed into legalized theft. It may have had an honest beginning, coming in the middle of the depression and being at first a voluntary program, but it has become a behemoth of government social engineering gone wild. No longer can I depend on it being there when and if I retire. It is high time we give our young people the chance to opt out and fend for themselves by making their own investments for retirement.

    • If any private enterprise or citizen had done what the federal government has done they would be in prison for the rest of their lives.

      Bernie Madoff was an amateur.

    • No, it never had an honest beginning, Rim. It's always been nothing more than lies, obfuscation, misdirection, misrepresentation, smoke and mirrors. It was a Ponzi scheme from the very beginning; FDR knew it, the Democrat Senate and House at the time knew it, and the Supreme Court knew it. However, to get over some constitutionally legal barriers, the whole SSI thing was argued one way before the Court and was explained another way to We the Sheeple! We were told our SSI deductions would be placed in a lock box and earn interest, but the court was told that the deductions were essentially new tax revenue and would be placed in the General Fund. We never had a chance. A Ponzi scheme of this magnitude takes a long time to unravel but when it does, man what a doosey! I vote for executing and Representative, Senator, Judge, or President who doesn't want to privatize SSI, but then, that's just me!

      • The nail has officially, and totally been struck upon the head. The choice is as simple as it is unpopular: Save Social Security OR save the United States, but you can not do both. Like islam, socialism is incompatible with a Republic and deadly poison to a Democracy, it's killed every attempt since Athens.

        • Actually Al, we can do both, but we have to stop giving out foreigh aid, PERIOD! If we are in debt, we have no right to be giving away money we have to borrow!
          We pay the lions share of the cost of running the UN, and we get nothing of any use from it. If you are our Ally, then you will stick with whether we are in the UN or not.
          Pork projects are of no use to us, if you want a pork project for your state, fund it yourself.
          All non essential departments need to be looked at with a microscope, there must be billions to save there.
          If we do all that, we can reduce the debt and deficit, save SSI, and do it all without raising taxes.

          • Sure, you save SSI without raising taxes, sure we should do ALL of that and more. But it doesn't save the United States, it only provides more nutrients for the cancer of socialism to grow with.

            If a single cell of this rapidly metastasizing socialist cancer is left in the body politic, the prognosis is still terminal, only the time frame changes. From the democracy of Athens and the republic of Rome to the Europe and America of today, the lesson is undeniable to anyone who will actually see it. Once the people have the power to vote for "free" things from government, it's only a matter of time until the government has complete control and the people have nothing.

          • But we shouldn't be "saving" Social Security. We should spend the money to shut it down in an equitable way, so that people who paid into it get a reasonable return on their "investment," while people who have not become an involuntary participant in the Ponzi scheme are not forced to continue this illegal farce.

            Next time your little "statement of account" shows up, take a good hard look at it. Especially if you've been paying into it for a few decades. Take the money paid in the first year, add 5%, then add the second year, and 5% of that total, and so on. You'll soon realize that if this money had actually been invested, you would have a good sum of money in the bank now.

            I hear people all the time saying that there's a good chance that a person collecting SS benefits now will get back more than they paid in. Well, yeah! That's how investing is supposed to work! But compared to what they paid in, plus some good investment work, nobody is getting back the real value of what they paid in. Give us our money back, with interest, and shut down the program.

          • RHG, I agree, but there is no way in hell that they are going to give up that sacred cow! That's why I devised my plan to save it.
            I like your idea much better, but there is no way I can see it happening.

          • Me neither. Some cows are just too damned sacred. I guess I'm just dreaming again.

  • Its the same smoke and mirror game the career politicians play with the voters, the VA was also in the black at one time until the slime balls figured they could "borrow" from that as well. The theory that this administrations goal is to destroy the American economy through record high spending to unions and political allies in the labor sector (known as TARP) destroy Social Security (what's left) and use it and Medicare / Medicaid as the scare leverage for votes (besides the illegals they already have) would certainly appear to be true. The newly emerging ruling elite: We know what is good for the country, we will meet at Camp David and make our decisions! They all should be charged with treason and sedition.

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