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Social Security tax inflow has exceeded social security expenditures since program inception. In 2013, SS taxes totaled $855B. 95% of that money was paid to beneficiaries. 3.8% of that money was "trust fund increase" i.e. used to purchase treasuries to fund the federal government. Social Security is not breaking the country today; it's the promises to pay a growing retiree class that has a growing lifespan. SS is a manageable problem with political will. Medicare, not so much.
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Only if you buy that "on books"/"off books" budgeting that the Treasury department does. Total federal income - total federal expenditures = deficit. Largest component of expenditures is SS/Medicare and similar wealth transfer payments.
Social Security tax inflow has exceeded social security expenditures since program inception. In 2013, SS taxes totaled $855B. 95% of that money was paid to beneficiaries. 3.8% of that money was "trust fund increase" i.e. used to purchase treasuries to fund the federal government. Social Security is not breaking the country today; it's the promises to pay a growing retiree class that has a growing lifespan.
SS is a manageable problem with political will. Medicare, not so much.
Political will--laughable, the proof is the on-books/off-books accounting. The "will" amounts to nothing more than the willingness to gradually rob younger persons of more and more of their wages.
And the main point is that SS inflow exceeds CURRENT outflow. What needs to happen (for Medicare too) is that each age cohort's inflow must exceed their own expected actuarial outflow. THAT is the proper measurement. Anything less and you MUST use an overall perspective of the federal budget. So at present that means you MUST
proportion the blame for deficits to ALL outflows, including SS/Medicare.