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Let’s dispel the rumor that Social Security, initially set up in the 1930s in the Roosevelt administration for the benefit of retirees, is a socialist program. It is not “an entitlement,” because all the money paid into the S.S. Trust Fund is out of private industry, not public money. The paycheck stub calls these payments “FICA,” [Federal Insurance Corporation of America], and consist of payments we make out of each personal paycheck from our employers to cover future retirement expenses in the form of monthly Social Security and Medicare payments. Our employers match our paycheck FICA contributions over the course of our careers, which should be considered as additional income, but slated for investment purpose rather than in-pocket, like a private savings account.
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL33028
So, none of the input is public money, so the payout from the government is not an entitlement; it is our private money, earned by working [ours and our employers’ money]. It is therefore not a socialist program, as many today accuse.
The government is often accused of robbing money out of the Social Security Trust Fund that our private contributions, and those of our employers, feed. The government denies the “theft,” but, they do acknowledge “borrowing” money from it. To date, as of the end of fiscal year 2024 [September 30, 2024], the government owes the Trust Fund $2.5 trillion dollars. The robbery accusation appears to be a reality given the size of the debt; it is just called “borrowing.” By the way, the congress.gov reference from above stipulates that, by law, the borrowed money must be reimbursed by the government. Past time to pay-up, and given the size of the incurred debt, Congress is, once again, dragging its feet. How about changing the law that allows government to “borrow” from the Social Security Trust Fund in the first place? It is patently unfair to impose this debt on taxpayers whose own future access to Social Security they are currently paying into is at risk to be utterly lost to them.
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL33028
So, none of the input is public money, so the payout from the government is not an entitlement; it is our private money, earned by working [ours and our employers’ money]. It is therefore not a socialist program, as many today accuse.
The government is often accused of robbing money out of the Social Security Trust Fund that our private contributions, and those of our employers, feed. The government denies the “theft,” but, they do acknowledge “borrowing” money from it. To date, as of the end of fiscal year 2024 [September 30, 2024], the government owes the Trust Fund $2.5 trillion dollars. The robbery accusation appears to be a reality given the size of the debt; it is just called “borrowing.” By the way, the congress.gov reference from above stipulates that, by law, the borrowed money must be reimbursed by the government. Past time to pay-up, and given the size of the incurred debt, Congress is, once again, dragging its feet. How about changing the law that allows government to “borrow” from the Social Security Trust Fund in the first place? It is patently unfair to impose this debt on taxpayers whose own future access to Social Security they are currently paying into is at risk to be utterly lost to them.
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Category:
Economics