In the talks about raising the debt ceiling, or not, president Obama made a Freudian slip that will permanently affect the reform of entitlements. Social Security was supposed to have a trust fund that would guarantee payment for another 30-40 years. Ask any Democrat, especially one who is opposed to reforms that convert part of the account to a private investment account.
Obama said he “could not guarantee” that Social Security checks would go out after August 2 of the debt limit had not been raised. That is the end of the trust fund fiction.
In 1960, the Supreme Court ruled that workers do not have a legal right to their Social Security benefits. Congress can cut them any time it wants, which it’s done several times. And, because there are no ownership rights, if you die the day you retire after making a lifetime of payments into Social Security, your heirs get nothing.
That was 50 years ago but the truth may finally sink in now.