>>>However, you did confirm the essential truth that the trust fund is a debt, not an asset. Many people do not realize that.
>From James previous message:
>>>>>You, like many others, don't see the full picture. The bonds in the trust fund (TF) are ASSETS to the TF. The bonds are a liability to the general fund which borrowed the money.
>From Mark Gibb's latest message:
>>>>James, I just can't accept the above. It makes no sense whatsoever when the borrower and the lender are the same entity.
But Mark, why did it make sense to you to see a 'debt' when there was only one entity? Of course, it does not. But many like you can only 'see' one side of the coin. The borrower and lender were set up to be different 'entities'. Just like the income tax is vastly different from the payroll tax. That is not the only possible way to fund a SS program, but it was the way chosen.
>>>>>Why do you make the distinction between the TF and the rest of the government?
Because that is how it was designed. If SS had been set up to be funded from the general income tax, then you would have a point. It was not.
>>>>>Government debt is government debt no matter what cubby hole you put it in. It still represents a huge burden on my 16 month old daughter and her children.
Yes. And that debt was incurred so that the general fund could spend money it did not raise through the income tax. That debt burden (represented by the SSTF bonds) on your 16 month old daughter is not due to SS!
