Government could stop issuing SS checks...

[kadee79]

This doesn't look good & we ALL need to contact ALL of our Congress persons & let them know to keep their hands out of the SS trust fund.  They have raided it enough already!

There’s a very real possibility the government will stop issuing Social Security payments after the debt limit is hit.



Scary as that prospect is, however, the alternative might be even worse: A little-known provision of a 1996 law could be interpreted to allow the Social Security trust fund to be used not only to pay Social Security’s monthly checks but also to circumvent the debt limit and pay all the government’s otherwise overdue bills.



If that happens, any short-term relief to Social Security recipients would come with a potentially huge long-term price tag: The Social Security trust fund could be exhausted much sooner than currently projected—in just a couple of years, in fact.



These dire possibilities emerge from an analysis conducted by Steve Robinson, the chief economist for The Concord Coalition, a group that describes itself as “a nonpartisan organization dedicated to educating the public and finding common sense solutions to our nation’s fiscal policy challenges.”



An issue brief he wrote, entitled “Social Security’s Debt Limit Escape Clause,” is available on the group’s website.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/the-government-may-stop-issuing-social-security-payments-after-the-debt-limit-is-hit-here-s-why/ar-AA18tC8j?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=7973518cd14447a7860c9e14761283e6&ei=48

[Tennesseer]

Republicans will pay dearly if that happens.

[laterbloomer]

Mar 10, 2023 21:44:50 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Republicans will pay dearly if that happens.

No they won't. For some reason you guys don't make Republicans pay for anything. A bunch of bitching and moaning, but no real consequences. A Democrat does something and they are expelled from government, they don't get re-elected, often they are even charged. Republicans keep going on their merry fucking way. Seriously, wtf is that?!?!

[toomuchreality]

I can't even imagine how many people would end up dead, or out on the street, if they no longer received their SS checks. A LOT of people depend on that income, to live day, to day and have no other means of income.

[kadee79]

Mar 11, 2023 0:13:32 GMT -5 toomuchreality said:

I can't even imagine how many people would end up dead, or out on the street, if they no longer received their SS checks. A LOT of people depend on that income, to live day, to day and have no other means of income.

There are already way too many of us older folks that have to choose between eating & buying the meds they need to stay alive.

If the GOP use the SS trust fund, they just might...and that is a BIG 'might'....have gone too far.  Like Latebloomer says, they rarely suffer the consequences of their actions.  I wonder if this would actually wake up many who think the GOP can do no wrong.

ALL elections matter.  EVERY VOTE MATTERS in every election!

[saveinla]

But its mostly seniors who are voting for the GOP. I would say they should feel the effects of this and then they can decide.

Unfortunately a lot of good people will get caught in this too, but unless it hits people's pocketbook, no one is going to care.

Sorry - but we pay the max for all these taxes and dont think we will get any benefit out of it when we retire, so I am not feeling sorry for people who are voting against their own interests.

[djAdvocate]

SS is mostly a flow through entity at this point, and there is no ability to borrow to make it solvent, as far as i know.  if revenues fail to keep up with benefits, the ONLY current choice will be to raise taxes or cut the program.

in 1986, Reagan opted for the prior.  it was a brave act, as it was extremely unpopular with Republicans.  as i have said before, you can hate him if you like, but the man was pragmatic.  which is why he is a top quartile president, not a bottom quartile president.

[tallguy]

Mar 11, 2023 15:43:06 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

SS is mostly a flow through entity at this point, and there is no ability to borrow to make it solvent, as far as i know.  if revenues fail to keep up with benefits, the ONLY current choice will be to raise taxes or cut the program.

in 1986, Reagan opted for the prior.  it was a brave act, as it was extremely unpopular with Republicans.  as i have said before, you can hate him if you like, but the man was pragmatic.  which is why he is a top quartile president, not a bottom quartile president.

Perhaps, but if he really wanted to be a top president, he would have been more thoughtful (for one thing) and pragmatic BEFORE blowing through his disastrous alternatives rather than afterward....   

[djAdvocate]

Mar 11, 2023 16:00:52 GMT -5 tallguy said:

Mar 11, 2023 15:43:06 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

SS is mostly a flow through entity at this point, and there is no ability to borrow to make it solvent, as far as i know.  if revenues fail to keep up with benefits, the ONLY current choice will be to raise taxes or cut the program.

in 1986, Reagan opted for the prior.  it was a brave act, as it was extremely unpopular with Republicans.  as i have said before, you can hate him if you like, but the man was pragmatic.  which is why he is a top quartile president, not a bottom quartile president.

Perhaps, but if he really wanted to be a top president, he would have been more thoughtful (for one thing) and pragmatic BEFORE blowing through his disastrous alternatives rather than afterward....   

this is the same case that dondub would make, and i won't debate it.

[djAdvocate]

part of why i bring stuff like this up is that Reagan could never run as a Republican today.

ever.

he would run as a centrist Democrat.

[dondub]

Mar 11, 2023 16:06:47 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

part of why i bring stuff like this up is that Reagan could never run as a Republican today.

ever.

he would run as a centrist Democrat.

And be labeled a Marxist/socialist/communist.😎

[tallguy]

Mar 11, 2023 16:06:47 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

part of why i bring stuff like this up is that Reagan could never run as a Republican today.

ever.

he would run as a centrist Democrat.

Democrat, maybe, but moreso because the Republicans moved so far from where they were before that they would never support him.  Centrist, not so much.  Centrist Democrats would be in the Bill Clinton vein.  Obama and Biden qualify as well.  Their being reviled by Republicans is not an indictment of where THEY are on the scale, but of where their detractors are.  Reagan would still be conservative compared to those three.

[djAdvocate]

Mar 11, 2023 16:30:04 GMT -5 tallguy said:

Mar 11, 2023 16:06:47 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

part of why i bring stuff like this up is that Reagan could never run as a Republican today.

ever.

he would run as a centrist Democrat.

Democrat, maybe, but moreso because the Republicans moved so far from where they were before that they would never support him.  Centrist, not so much.  Centrist Democrats would be in the Bill Clinton vein.  Obama and Biden qualify as well.  Their being reviled by Republicans is not an indictment of where THEY are on the scale, but of where their detractors are.  Reagan would still be conservative compared to those three.

precisely.  there is absolutely no room for him in the GOP.  

i agree with you about the conservative Democrat point.  reluctantly.  i kind of forget where Democrats are right now, which is more left than they were in 1986.

[Tiny]

I think the senior GOP voters will vote for whatever the GOP politicians put forward.

I can already hear my boomer relatives saying "Yes! we should raise the age for SS! That's good! I'll still get my money."

When all that does is screw over their kids and grandkids - in ways they may not ever have thought of. As in how that makes income inequality even worse down the road. It might not effect the amount of money their kids have in retirement - but it will change the way American Society works America will look more and more like other countries with slums and homelessnes and poverty that people will never be able to get out of.

[andi9899]

Mar 10, 2023 23:31:14 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Mar 10, 2023 21:44:50 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Republicans will pay dearly if that happens.

No they won't. For some reason you guys don't make Republicans pay for anything. A bunch of bitching and moaning, but no real consequences. A Democrat does something and they are expelled from government, they don't get re-elected, often they are even charged. Republicans keep going on their merry fucking way. Seriously, wtf is that?!?!

Their base is primarily the uneducated and poor. Not being able to eat will actually get them to do something. Promises never delivered or made up boogie men don't really affect them the same way. This will hit their base in a very different way. It will take time before they can actually do something about it though. An election a year away doesn't help them now. It will be very interesting and will be every bad for those people.

[djAdvocate]

the great depression was quite motivating.

FDR threatened businesspeople by telling them that the people would dismantle their businesses if they didn't agree to pay for SS and FMW.

[laterbloomer]

Mar 11, 2023 20:45:07 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Mar 10, 2023 23:31:14 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

No they won't. For some reason you guys don't make Republicans pay for anything. A bunch of bitching and moaning, but no real consequences. A Democrat does something and they are expelled from government, they don't get re-elected, often they are even charged. Republicans keep going on their merry fucking way. Seriously, wtf is that?!?!

Their base is primarily the uneducated and poor. Not being able to eat will actually get them to do something. Promises never delivered or made up boogie men don't really affect them the same way. This will hit their base in a very different way. It will take time before they can actually do something about it though. An election a year away doesn't help them now. It will be very interesting and will be every bad for those people.

The Republicans will tell the the Democrats are going to do worse to them and they will believe it. I read a meme once that said Americans don't believe they are poor, they're just temporarily embarrassed millionaires. I think that's how most of you really see yourselves.

[Tiny]

Mar 11, 2023 22:48:19 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

the great depression was quite motivating.

FDR threatened businesspeople by telling them that the people would dismantle their businesses if they didn't agree to pay for SS and FMW.

IDK,  the Black Lives Matter protests didn't really frighten anyone -  the riots and violence that happened did... and the response was pretty much "shoot and kill them!  Kill their families! Put the rest in jail!"    

I'm guessing if Americans go after businesses  there would be blood shed rather than compromise. 


I'm beginning to think that American businesses (and the very wealthy) don't "need" the poor to help bolster their balance sheets.   I think there's plenty of strapped for cash middle class households where as long as they have jobs - they can keep spending.      And I think American businesses can see that there are plenty of jobs to keep those middle class consumers spending.     The poor can fend for themselves.  

Those with jobs and money - can just "build walls" around their neighborhoods, can put their kids in private schools (and activities) and then can just ignore the poor.  Just like humans have done for thousands of years. 

[thyme4change]

Mar 10, 2023 21:44:50 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Republicans will pay dearly if that happens.

Unfortunately, no matter the facts, if SS checks are late it will be Biden’s fault. People are stupid.

[tallguy]

Well, as long as they restart sending checks before 2027-28 I won't have to sell anything from investments.  Think I'll be okay for a while.