Both parties in Washington are circling the wagons around Social Security. They’ve spent the last two years lobbing mortars and smart bombs at our national pension, softening up the American people for the inevitable reduction in our nest egg.
Rare is the politician who mentions that the Social Security Trust Fund has an official IOU from Congress for the sweet tune of $2.5 trillion dollars.
The clever part of this ploy is that this is money the government owes to itself so it’s not an official part of the U.S. debt calculations. If it were our debt would be $19 trillion, closing fast on $20 trillion.
Some Democrats are pushing for the president to use the 14th amendment to avoid this crisis over raising the debt ceiling. (They would just pilfer the money they need from Social Security like they always have, but Social Security is flat broke right now.)
The 14th amendment was passed in 1868 as part of reconstruction. They key passage is the 4th section which states, in part:
“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services… shall not be questioned.”
Democrats insist this gives the president the power to raise the debt ceiling. It’s a stretch, by any measure. Obama did consult with his lawyers and later said this is not something they would pursue. (And we’re supposed to believe that, coming from “hope and change” Obama?)
The law clearly, states, however, that this law applies very specifically to “the payment of pensions.” Social Security is a pension, by definition. It is NOT a stretch to say that it prohibits the government from reneging on Social Security debts owed to the American people.
In fact, this amendment goes far more than saying it’s a law. Section 4 says repayment SHALL NOT BE QUESTIONED.
Yet, Congress has ignored this debt, avoided it, obfuscated on it, belittled it and all but burned up the IOU that establishes it.
By the most fundamental and hallowed law in the land, Congress is obligated to pay this money to Social Security. And that doesn’t mean they can reduce benefits or raise the retirement age to pay us back. Congress has to refund that $2.5 trillion in full plus interest.
THEN they can take Social Security out of any budget shenanigans because Social Security will be solid and solvent. Nor can they borrow that money back again because they would clearly never ever pay it back.
That’s the law.
