Obama’s Social Security Threat

On Tuesday, in response to the on-going debate around raising the debt ceiling, President Obama said, “I cannot guarantee that [Social Security] checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.”

In my view there is something fundamentaly wrong with this statement.

Social Security is self-funded, and is a mandated item in the budget, not a discretionary spending item. How can there not be money in the Treasury to cover Social Security payments?

The government takes in over $1 trillion in individual and corporate income taxes in additional to taxes to fund Social Security, and other revenue sources. Interest on the national debt is $240 billion.

Either President Obama is committing a “grand lie” or there is something more serious going on in Washington, DC than we have been told.

Mr. Obama’s statement was made in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley and can be read here.