Social Security: Why would the checks stop?

[Kidlicious]

I'm sure the iou's don't count. So reducing them will not reduce the national debt.

[giblets]

The United States public debt is a measure of the obligations of the United States federal government and is presented by the United States Treasury in two components and one total:

* Debt Held by the Public, representing all federal[1] securities held by institutions or individuals outside the United States Government;
* Intragovernmental Holdings, representing U.S. Treasury securities held in accounts which are administered by the United States Government, such as the OASI Trust fund administered by the Social Security Administration; and
* Total Public Debt Outstanding, which is the sum of the above components.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
Sending social security checks will replace intragovernmental holdings with debt held by the public, and won't change the size of the national debt. So the debt ceiling can't possibly prevent social security checks from being sent since it's a limit on the size of the national debt, not debt held by the public.

[Kidlicious]

Yes, the IOU's in the Social Security trust fund are part of the national debt. When social security checks are sent, the size of the trust fund decreases and the debt held by the public (debts that people actually bought) increases but there is no change in the national debt.

I can't post links, but I read that the ious don't count.

[Kidlicious]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
Sending social security checks will replace intragovernmental holdings with debt held by the public, and won't change the size of the national debt. So the debt ceiling can't possibly prevent social security checks from being sent since it's a limit on the size of the national debt, not debt held by the public.

Interesting. Thanks

[MRT144]

One of the many, many, many problems with our country is that one political party has little interest in governing, and the other party has none.

Which party is which is as changable as the weather.

Iraq war doesn't happen with a democrat in the White House.

[DinoDoc]

Iraq war doesn't happen with a democrat in the White House.

They simply choose another unnecessary country to invade given the Libya example.

[MRT144]

They simply choose another unnecessary country to invade given the Libya example.

Obviously our never ending war in Libya will cost trillions over 8 years. What, with our ground presence and the insurgency we're fighting.

[DinoDoc]

Obviously our never ending war in Libya will cost trillions over 8 years.

Similar to the War on Poverty.

[DaShi]

Don't expect DD to make sense.

[Tupac Shakur]

Oh **** that noise.

You can take Carl Levin's seat.

[Tupac Shakur]

Iraq war doesn't happen with a democrat in the White House.

Wouldn't be so sure about that. Clinton bombed the **** out of Iraq during his presidency and 9/11 made people on both sides of the aisle crazy.

[MRT144]

Don't expect DD to make sense.

That's a given.

[MRT144]

Wouldn't be so sure about that. Clinton bombed the **** out of Iraq during his presidency and 9/11 made people on both sides of the aisle crazy.

Imagine Al ****ing Gore for a minute. This revisionist idea that it was inevitable has got to be stopped.

[Tupac Shakur]

The only difference with Gore in charge is that the US would've invaded Iraq looking for ManBearPig rather than WMDs.

[Dinner]

I'm sure the iou's don't count. So reducing them will not reduce the national debt.

There are no IOUs and instead they are Treasury Bonds which, yes, are the very definition of the National Debt and so is counted.