Rep. Karen Thurman says that "Social Security will be solvent until 2034". This is the kind of statement that is not helpful in arriving at a politically sound reform. To be "solvent" is to be able to pay all that one owes. Technically the above statement is true, but in order to be "solvent" the Trustees will have to start cashing the Government Bonds that they own. WHERE WILL THE MONEY TO PAY THESE BONDS COME FROM?. If instead of asking "Will the Social Security system be solvent?", we were instead to ask "Will the Federal Government be solvent without increasing income taxes or issuing new publicly-held debt?", the answer is a resounding "NO"!
In other words, we cannot separate the rest of the Federal Government from the Social Security system. Come to think of it, we are dealing with an interesting paradox: when it comes to using the Social Security surplus, the politicians insist that "everything goes in the same pot", but when we look at the soundness of the SS system, THEN it is a separate entity.
