It is hard to imagine that anyone inside the DC beltway is not feeling a rising sense of panic over the news that Social Security is out of money. As the New York Times graphic shows, Social Security revenues were expected to exceed receipts through 2016, but in fact are expected to be less than receipts from 2010 on.
The year 2016 is comfortably far enough away that elected officials whose terms are no longer than six years don’t bother worrying about it. But if social security is out of money now, then the entire federal edifice — much of which has been funded by borrowing from the social security surplus — is on the brink of collapse.
