wrote in message
...
Er, no. As the tax receipts' input and "investment" occurs constantly,
and the "bonds"/IOUs are at a variety of interest rates and maturity
dates, the size and, generally, scope does matter. Moreover, the money
is out there and earning interest. You may be confusing the money
(principal) _earning_ interest with the interest earned actually being
paid - the interest is being earned daily and bonds are maturing and
interest is being paid to the SSA constantly. The problem is that they
continually lend it back out again to the same and only borrower. Look
at it like this - let's say you own a bank and Bill Gates and Warren
Buffett, your only customers, each deposit 1 million US with your bank.
They then come in and say, "Banker Bob, loan us each a mil at 6%." Sure,
you say. You know they are good for a measly mil so you loan them the
money. And sure enough, in a year they come in and pay you back with
interest. However, they immediately say, "Bob, now loan us 1,060,000 at
6%," and you say, "Um, well, how about letting me keep my interest, but
I'll happily loan you another mil?" "Sorry, nope, we want the
1,060,000," they say and you reluctantly agree, thinking the next year
will be your year. The next year, they pay right on time and clean you
right back out. So, you say, OK, I'll just sell this paper to another
investor, but the guys tell you to read the contracts - you can't
because the IOUs you accepted are "special" and can't be sold, bartered,
or otherwise negotiated.

OK, at what point do you begin to say, "hey, wait a damned minute,
here..." They are still, as of this point, "performing loans," earning
interest and all, but Bob's Bank has jack **** to show for it all.

And then, it really gets good - they come in after several years and
say, "Bob, we've always paid our debts and now, we'd like to borrow 100
mil, but don't worry, we know it's a bigger loan, so we're prepared to
make it worth your while - we'll pay 7%..." And then, it gets even
better. One day, they come in and say, "You know, Bob, we're going to
die eventually, and we'd sure hate to see you stuck, so we're going to
pay you off in full and we're not going to borrow another dime..."
Halle-****in-lu-yahoo, you think! "We've set up 'Trust Funds' and
they'll do all the borrowing, just like us, but better - they'll borrow
5 time as much as we ever did personally" WHAT!?! "Oh, don't worry,
they'll NEVER die - they'll go on being good little borrowers long after
we're all dead...you, too, Bob...and Bob, you really ought to go see our
tailor - it won't do for a prosperous banker like you to be in that same
shiny suit day after day...Bob...you seem to be crying, Bob...why are
you crying, Bob...?"

Your analogy has two fatal flaws.

1. Gates' and Buffet's sources of money come from a different source than my
bank's funds, while SS and the rest of government get their income primarily
from one source - the american taxpayer.

2. Gates and Buffet didn't sign a contract with my deposters that obligates
the bank (and in a sense would also obligate Gates and Buffet) to pay some
of the bank's depositers amounts that are mandated by Gates and Buffet (and
over which I have no real independant control), regardless of whether or not
I have enough new depositers to cover the mandated payouts.

Bob Weinberger


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