Ok, so i am a little US centric since i do not spend any time out of it (unless
you consider Cascadia not a part of the US - i wish).
So, what is the
easy way for the US to just erase 2 to 5 trillion dollars of debt? Basically
it just has to admit that one thing in particular is a scam. This comes to mind
because the next government showdown will be over raising the debt limit.
What i am referring to here is the social security trust fund. Social
security is/pretty much has always been a pay as you go
program. Unfortunately as part of the 1982 revision to "save" social security,
the program was allowed to run surpluses. The debt concerns came in as part of
the system where they have to "reinvest" the excess funds. A government does
not really have a way to save or invest, so they basically loan money to
themselves (there will probably be another post on how stupid that actually
is). Throughout the years, these "loans" have really added up.
If the US
had the guts to admit that the social security trust fund is essentially a scam
they could invalidate all of the "IOUs" to themselves and in the process whittle
at least 2 trillion dollars off of the national debt (without having to raise
the debt limit for a while). Of course, it is highly doubtful the government
would ever admit the truth of this matter. After all, social security is one of
the most successful vote buying schemes that has ever been instituted by the
federal government.
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