11 days until your SS checks might be interrupted

I bet I do.

It's both - we went into debt to borrow the money to spend; did you think they were just filling the White House swimming pool with the money?

Huh? Spending the money IS the expenditure.

Social Security is self-funding, Congress can't touch it. Most benefits are long term funded; However, we also have nearly $4 trillion per month coming in on taxes on a monthly basis. It just can't incur any additional debt.

 

Tax receipts amount to nearly $4 trillion a month???????

 

OOPS, That's annual revenue. $ 4.8 trillion for FY 2022. So about $400 billion a month.

 

Its not the funds for those programs, it is the issuing of those checks which is not covered by those funds.

 

Well... let's see.

Bzzzzzzz! FAIL! You started off well using the verb "to go" in past tense. As in "we went". But the reason we have to raise the debt ceiling is because the money WAS spent (also past tense). What is left will barely cover the minimum...

Congress? Double Bzzzzz! This is not about Congress. The Treasury Department is NOT part of Congress. If we run out of money, they just can't pay. Period! Of course, in reality it is most likely that they would prioritize Social Security. But, even so, it's quite possible that the checks could be delayed

Hah! And you thought that "long time funded" means the money is sitting in a bank vault to be used when needed? Wrong! Funding is just an accounting figure. But the actual CASH to pay for it is a different thing.

You have too much to learn. Bottom line, Social Security IS at risk. Maybe only a risk of delay, because Democrats are in charge... but at risk nonetheless. Forget funding! When the nation is bankrupt, anything could happen.

Of course, as I have said before, it's unlikely the donor class is going to allow House Republicans to take us down this path. But... we can't know for sure.

 

For starters, that is not going to happen. When it comes to the federal government, that means jobs. DHS, which has ICE, USCIS, CBP and other agencies is not going to be cut, because no GOP person is going to propose that. We can say the same for the FBI, what you call defunding the police argument and sounding like a progressive, gasp, along with DEA and ATF. All law enforcement. Second, federal jobs are located throughout the country, which means it will affect GOP congressional districts. Even my GOP rep, Beth Van Dyne, touted the Inflation Reduction Act, namely those green energy tax credits and jobs, that she said she brought to the state even though she voted against the bill and said "this will drive up inflation" type of argument. Department of Education is also not going anywhere. Just look at what Ronald Reagan said in 1988 when he practically praised the Department of Ed before he left at the end of his term in office.

So, this is you:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3wLxmcoi5Hk

 

And it keeps coming in. The ceiling prohibits issuing bonds, bills, note; People are still paying their taxes, fees, fines, etc. so there is actually alway money in th coffers.

And, again, money is coming in almost continuously. And Congress, the House actually, is the only entity that can generate spending bills. use some of your vaunted research skills to look up how authorization and appropriation is done.

you do know most government payments are done electronically, right? And, no, long term funded accounts just don't go through the annual budgetary process.

Wrong again. Workers, and their employers are paying their FICA taxes every month - that money is goes to pay SS recipients; it is not available to congress.

Yeah, you say a lot of partisan gobbledegook.

 

Cumulative Receipts, April 2023; $2.687 Trillion

Cumulative Receipts, April 2022; $2.986 Trillion

DOWN $300 billion, same time period

Source; Monthly Treasury Statement

 

Fine.

 

No I am not. Again, I don't think you understand what the credit limit means. These is bills that we already incurred. But it is only worse now because no one is willing to compromise. We have two very dug-into-the-trenches political parties that want absolute control more than anything else. The only difference is not that many moderates on both sides of the aisle compared to what Reagan or even Clinton had. We raised the debt limit and it was pretty automatic most of the time. it has become a struggle in the last decade because of politics and both sides are not willing to compromise. But the issue is really that the debt ceiling is what we already incurred to pay the bills. To put it bluntly, the GOP is willing not to pay for past bills, the credit card, and willing to risk the financial industry and national security all in the name of power. But again, the Freedom Caucus proposed a new bill for new DHS funding, which breaks that 1% rule they are willing to do. And that is who will break the rule first. The reasoning is not the issue, just the overall strategy the Freedom Caucus is using.

I view plenty of other sources that his not hyperpartisan. None you probably heard of. But at the same time, you may want to stop watching or listening to whatever hyperpartisan conservative outlet you are using.

When it comes to the border, remember, I live in Texas, pretty much all my life, and have been to the border plenty of times, probably more than you will ever know. I know why they are coming. I have experience in immigration issues as a 30 year volunteer. But the shipments into Chicago, NYC and elsewhere are coming from the publicity stunts of Abbott and DeSantis who pretty much lie to migrants with false hopes of housing, jobs, and so forth when it turns out all to be false. If they come through the port of entry, are approved to enter, and are in Texas, then they are legal. You may not like them, but they are legal. But the issue with migrants is not about legal vs illegal, it is about why they will come here because they have no where else to go, even in their home country. It is also why we have been dealing with this issue since 1873. Want to solve illegal and migration issues, solve the root cause, not the sysmptoms.

 

You can’t criticize the Republicans for not comprising because you won’t compromise. It’s the Democrat position or nothing.

 

You're evading the question of who gets stiffed--or cut.

I think we should have put a surtax on high income groups who have made out quite well from 2020.

 

Politics doesn't work the way you like. You can't roll Joe with what you're doing.

 

The ones who are not compromising are the Republicans. They literally said either take what we gave you or else sort of thing and that is likely why we are in the mess. Even McCarthy has rejected any bipartisan bill to negotiate on the debt ceiling and the budget, and he is the Republican leader in the House.

 

The government will have to choose just who gets paid. You can bet bondholders will be paid in full before SS gets their benefits. Yet, just the thought the might not be paid in the future will drive up interest rates.

You tell me--who won't be paid and when will they be cut off? Will we shut the national parks? Will we cut off the Ukraine? Stop issuing visas and passports? Will we cut border security?

 

They come from different pots of money - Congress has no access to Social Security.

They're already up

We'll see.

 

They've also paid most of the taxes.

 

I wouldn't be sure it would go down as you describe. I think Joe will offer cuts and no promises about future budgets. If they dig in their heels for more, I think Joe will say the debt ceiling is unconstitutional and pay people anyway.

 

Things don't work the way you think they do.

 

So what? The economic system is tilted in their favor.

 

Is that all you've got.

 

So what?

 

You helped reelect him in 2012.

 

That's why they should pay a surtax to cur aggregate demand.

 

I don't have the time or drive to explain accounting to you. Suffice it to say that if not enough money comes in to cover expenses, the only alternative is... all together now... debt! You know... the one thing of which McCarthy is keeping the government from increasing the... all together... ceiling!

It's not possible to discuss the topic with anybody who doesn't have the above concept clear. But, bottom line (as it pertains to this thread)... YES! Social Security checks WOULD be at risk. The good news (kinda) is that this is political posturing by McCarthy. He has to go through the motions to maintain the support of the MAGA-Crazies Caucus.