Social Security: Why would the checks stop?
 

President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks. Typical scare tactics. But since both parties do it, I guess I shouldn't complain too much, but it is annoying.

Yes, one party's only interest is staying in power, and the other's is returning to power. The common person doesn't fit into either's plan except as a pawn to vote for them.

Sending out social security checks will not increase the national debt (which is what the debt ceiling limits) but will increase the debt owed to the public.

huh?

I'm not disputing that but can you explain what you said.

Social Security cannot increase the debt because when push comes to shove it must support itself by cashing in the mature debt it holds. This does cost the government money, but it actually reduces the debt.

Do the iou's count as the national debt? No one ever bought that debt.

I'm sure the iou's don't count. So reducing them will not reduce the national debt.

I can't post links, but I read that the ious don't count.

Iraq war doesn't happen with a democrat in the White House.

Obviously our never ending war in Libya will cost trillions over 8 years. What, with our ground presence and the insurgency we're fighting.

Don't expect DD to make sense.

Wouldn't be so sure about that. Clinton bombed the **** out of Iraq during his presidency and 9/11 made people on both sides of the aisle crazy.

Imagine Al ****ing Gore for a minute. This revisionist idea that it was inevitable has got to be stopped.

There are no IOUs and instead they are Treasury Bonds which, yes, are the very definition of the National Debt and so is counted.

But since there was no real connection between Iraq and 9/11, Gore (or McCain or any other potential president of either party) wouldn't have gone into Iraq. Afghanistan yes, but not Iraq. That was entirely the doing of Bush's neo-con advisors.

McCain absolutely would have gone into Iraq. McCain thinks we belong in Libya. And Al Gore's vice president was Joe Lieberman. I think Gore would have charted a fairly similar foreign policy course, except he would also have been an environmentalist loon.

They actually did find WMDs, just not many and not nukular.

This. Not getting elected is what turned Gore into a loon.

I think you don't know what makes something an asset.

How is a bond not an "IOU"?