Could Debt Ceiling Negotiations Harm Social Security?
The standoff over the debt ceiling, likely to come to a head next month, threatens to stiff a lot of people owed money by the government. Among them: more than 55 million Social Security recipients.
Many recipients rely on their monthly checks to make ends meet. And the economy benefits from their spending that money.
Absent a debt ceiling increase, which would allow more federal borrowing, the Treasury Department would only have enough funding on hand to cover 60% of the country’s financial obligations.
So something would have to give.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Social Security recipients — to whom an estimated $61 billion is due between Feb. 15 and March 15 — would get the short end of the stick. But they could.
Treasury isn’t saying what it would do. But President Obama on Monday stressed that “there are no easy outs.” And a report from the Treasury inspector general reviewing the 2011 debt ceiling standoff largely affirms that.
Some lawmakers say Treasury could simply “prioritize payments.” That is, pick winners who would get paid in full and on time — and losers who would be told to wait indefinitely to get paid what they’re owed.
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2 Responses to Could Debt Ceiling Negotiations Harm Social Security?
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hi what is wrong with this plan people work all there life for this money there must be another way out we have to do something to stop this this gov burn money what is wrong this picture somebody tell me what happen to the money that you have and there nobody to leave it to where do that money go so if this happen they will stop taking it out of your pay check that is something to think about
Carolyn Pringle
January 17, 2013 at 4:44 am
You must first understand that the SS trust fund has been raided each year for almost 50 years and replaced with IOU’s.
Also you should know the deficit (the amt. spent that is more than what is taken in) is over 1.2 Trillion dollars! So that amount has to be borrowed. (a trillion has 12 zeros)
The Debt is the composite of all of the deficit’s that have been run up over the years. (President Obama has in his 1st 4 years increased the Debt more than all the other Presidents combined)
We now owe 16.5 Trillion dollars! That is more than all the money produced in the country it’s called the GDP.
The country has made promises to pay over 80 Trillion dollars, that’s for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,government employee pensions, military pension. (We are in it so deep!)
So the answer is yes SS could be harmed. That is also why government spending must be cut. That’s why the growth of government should be curtailed.
Some people think they can not do without the government, yes you can, yes you will have too. The longer they wait the more it’s going to hurt!
Onesilverbac
January 18, 2013 at 8:15 pm