The astonishing war against senior Americans presses on. As if the totally unwarranted bipartisan attempts to slash Social Security aren’t enough, now we have H.R.421 – “To require that the Government prioritize all obligations on the debt held by the public in the event that the debt limit is reached.”
Introduced by Tom McClintock, Republican of California
Chris van Hollen, ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, says:
House Republicans’ new proposal to put foreign creditors – including China – before American families is deeply troubling and will hurt our economic recovery. There is no question that we must come together as a Congress now to put a long-term plan in place to reduce the deficit. But this country must not put China first, and fail to extend that same full faith and credit to American taxpayers. We must get our fiscal house in order, and at the State of the Union the President laid out ideas to tackle this challenge. But for the new Republican majority to do so at the expense of the economic security of American families and seniors is reckless and irresponsible. Democrats will fight any legislation that doesn’t put American families first.
Incredible. I guess only suckers count on our government to meet its obligations to working Americans.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
http://www.opencongress.org/bi…
I’m buying stock in catfood makers, because that’s where this is all going – grandma and grandpa eating catfood, spending out their final years performing hard manual labor for our cherished Banker Class.
Everyone paying attention has long known that this is the dilemma. It seemed outrageous to suggest that the obligations to the SS Trust Fund were worth less than other government debts. However, now all doubt is gone, the GOP is truly outrageous.
Cutting through all the Kos talking points, first, even if the US defaulted on the debt owed by Treasury to the SS fund, it wouldn’t matter. Individual recipients of SS have no vested right to those funds. It’s not a contract. Supreme Court said that years ago.
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p>That means recipients are still in the same place they were before: expecting to receive an SS check and assured by the Federal government that it will send it.
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p>And second, the “pay china first” hubris is simply bullshit Democrat spin. Worse than spin, it’s just a lie. Of all the debt owed by the US, MOST of it is owed to people, funds, retirement plans, portfolios belonging to US citizens, not asians.
Can you point me to this ruling?
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p>And senators who say that the bill would have this affect (even crypto-Republicans like Kent Conrad) are wrong?
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p>Really?
the treasuries are payable to the fund, but the payout from the fund doesn’t depend on the treasuries being paid. The ‘promise’ from SS is not a contract, not a vested right, and doesn’t depend on SS having underlying assets.
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p>So, if the US defaulted to the fund, the recipient still has the security of a US promise. Just as the recipient of SS now has the security of a US promise. No diff.
And I’m sure bond markets would see it that way. Credit is ruled by brokers’ opinions, not law, and the distinction your searching for wouldn’t sell on the market.