Social Security: In the Red Now

Now, however, the CBO has determined that Social Security will run cash deficits next year and in 2011, and by 2016 will be more or less in permanent deficit mode.  Hot Air has exclusively obtained the summer 2009 CBO report sent to legislators on Capitol Hill but not yet made public, which shows that outgo will exceed income for the first time since the 1983 fix on an annual basis in 2010.

The full story is at HotAir. A lot of this is happening because our economic tumble is causing tax revenues, including SSI income, to fall dramatically. A lot of folks don’t realize that many of the people in the “higher income brackets” actually have extremely variable incomes. If you’re on a $0k a year salary, that’s pretty much what you make. If you “play the market,” or are on a $150k a year salary, your income can probably vary between $500k a year and $150k a year in any given year, depending on economic conditions. A lot of folks who used to make $500k a year are now making $150k a year, and a lot of folks who used to have jobs don’t any longer. All of this has a major impact on tax revenues.

Related posts:

1. Social Unrest Coming?
2. The Bitter Fruits of Social Justice
3. Adding Up the Math