>>>>HAVE Government bonds been issued to the SSTF and IS interest being paid? I was under the impression that the money has been "borrowed" from The SSTF with no obligations being issued.
Yes bonds are issued and interest is paid to the SSTF. Check out the 1999 Trustees Report for details at the SSA web site:
>>>>I was also under the impression that the true Federal debt is much larger than the published numbers due to the SSTF surplus being included in the calculations.
No, the National Debt accurately reflects the obligation to the SSTF. However, the annual borrowing from the SSTF does not show up in the annual deficit figures. Also, many talk about 'unfunded liability', but that is different than debt.
