By Paul Jacob
The trustees who oversee Social Security recently revised their predictions of when the program will hit two big icebergs. Previously, 2018 and 2042 were the accepted years in which two different kinds of insolvency were reached. Now, the years are said to be 2017 and 2041.
Twelve years. Think about it. In twelve years Social Security, barring reform, will be unable to meet all of its obligations without demanding money from the General Fund.
For years Social Security's surpluses -- caused by increasing Social Security taxes, which grew by leaps and bounds in the late '70s and mid-'80s -- have been lent to Congress rather than the private sector. This means that the debt repayments will not come from investors, but from taxpayers.
Congress has not paid back any of its borrowings in decades. It has increased its debt. So 2017 not only marks the end of easy management of Social Security. . . It marks the end of Congressional Spending As We Know It.
Imagine Congress not only balancing its budgets, but raising a surplus of funds to spend on paying back Social Security. You'd think Congress would be shivering in its boots. But, oh yeah, that's a problem for a future Congress.
The second iceberg is pretty much irrelevant, because taxpayers and Congress will feel the hit a whole lot earlier than 2041. A solution must be agreed upon before we reach even that speedily approaching first iceberg.
Otherwise, we've one Titanic of a problem on our hands.
All hands on deck.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
Common Sense is published by Americans for Limited Government. Their website can be visited at www.limitedgov.org.