Social Security Proposes “Immediate And Permanent Reduction” In Benefits
by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
ZeroHedge.com
Tue, 01/09/2018
On a deep, dark evening last June in the spectacularly celestial deserts of northern Chile, scientists made a phenomenal discovery.
It was a supernova… one that they named ASASSN-15lh.
This wasn’t just any supernova. It was the BIGGEST and BRIGHTEST supernova ever recorded.
Supernovas are exploding stars whose ejected mass and energy can create a light show so brilliant that they can sometimes be seen with the naked eye in our own night sky.
At its most luminous, ASASSN-15lh was over 500 BILLION times brighter than our own sun, and FAR greater than the previous record holder.
This is so bright that, according to one of the lead researchers, if it had been located within our own galaxy there would have been no darkness on earth for weeks.
Fortunately for us, ASASSN-15lh was from a galaxy far, far away– 3.8 BILLION light years away. So its intensity didn’t have much of an effect on Planet Earth.
Of course, such a prodigious distance also means that ASASSN-15lh actually went supernova 3.8 billion years ago.
The star was so far away from our planet that it took billions of years for the light from the supernova to reach us.
It’s mind boggling to think about. But in a way, the same can be said of many of the financial risks that we face.
Consider the exploding star of Social Security, one of the largest and most important pension programs in the world.
Literally tens of millions of people depend on it.
The Social Security Administration itself reports that 62% of recipients rely on the program for at least HALF of their income.
And further research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that, without Social Security, 22.1 million Americans would fall below the poverty line.
Needless to say, major cuts to the program would have nuclear effects.
And yet, year after year, the Social Security Board of Trustees publishes an annual report that describes the program’s terminal financial challenges in excruciating detail.
They mince no words in plainly stating that Social Security pays out far too much money, and takes in far too little.
According to the 2017 Trustees report, “Trust Fund reserves become depleted in 2035.”
They’re practically giving us a date that we can circle on a calendar and mark “End of Social Security.”
The Trustees go on to lightly propose solutions, including an “immediate and permanent reduction” in benefits to all current and future Social Security recipients.”
And in case you’re wondering who these whack-job Trustees are, they include the Treasury Secretary of the United States, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Labor.
These aren’t just random people.
We’re talking about politicians at the highest levels of government who are telling us that Social Security is running out of money… and calling for an immediate and permanent cut in benefits.
Given the tens of millions of people who depend on the program, the consequences of either scenario would be catastrophic.
Sadly, this is not a new problem. The Trustees have been screaming for years that Social Security’s finances are unsustainable.
