Part of the reason taxes spool me right the hell up every year is that every time I look at my finalized W-2, I get to see 6.2% of my income stolen away from me, never to be seen again, in the form of a payment into the black box of “Social Security” (what a misnomer). Oh, sure, the original plan was that 6.2% would go into some kind of investment account that would accrue interest as I continued to deposit into it over the years, and then I would have that account available to me to live off of when I retired… but the system stopped working that way years ago. Thanks to mismanagement and doubly thanks to our Benificent Government borrowing out of the Social Security pool, that money goes into the system just long enough to go right back out and into the pockets of our grandparents, which is great for them, and disastrous for us – pyramid schemes can only last so long.
And, unfortunately, it is looking like it is time to pay the piper:
[NOTE: This blockquote has been redacted due to the questionable and unethical business practices of Righthaven LLC. Please contact TimesFreePress.com to express your displeasure with their aligning themselves with that scumbag organization.]
A lot of people far more versed in economic matters than I are saying that this was pretty much the Rubicon:
Technically, Social Security is now broke. Since it’s politically unthinkable to admit this, the Treasury will have to go cap in hand to the bond markets and buy more short-term debt in order to keep the benefits flowing. This will heavily increase a structural federal deficit that is already unsustainable.
And lest you think this is not going to be something you are going to have to worry about until some nebulous point in the future, you would be wrong:
The U.S. and the U.K. have moved “substantially” closer to losing their AAA credit ratings as the cost of servicing their debt rose, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
If we lose that rating, it will mean Very Bad Things (TM) for the bond market, the American dollar, and our economy as a whole.
I guess we chose a hell of a time to buy a house… On the one hand, mortage rates were absurdly low, and we now have the space to have a garden, store all manner of things, and modify things as we see fit. On the other hand, we are now out a lot of money that could be used to prepare for what is looking to be a very rough-and-rocky next few years… Here is to hoping that it is nowhere near as bad as a lot of people are starting to think…
(This Tuesday-dstroying news is courtesy of Say Uncle.)
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