Repay Social Security Trust Fund

Let's take a quick look at the Social Security Trust Fund and the deficient battle.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden are at odds. They hold us hostage on the money we have paid into the Social Security Trust Fund. I do believe they call it a trust fund for a reason.

In 1968, President Lyndon B Johnson gave Congress the right to borrow money from the Social Security Trust Fund at will. The people who pay into Social Security put trust in our government that this money is set aside for payments for retirees and the disabled. The Treasury Secretary is threatening to withhold these crucial payments. We may put trust in the elected men and women and appointed positions. Why does our government prey on the most vulnerable people in our society? It is just not right!

Since 1968, the government has borrowed an estimated $1.7 trillion from the Social Security Trust Fund, only paying back an estimated $18 billion. It is hard to get an accurate estimate of this. The total sum of all payments people receive from the Social Security Trust Fund is estimated between $80 to $90 billion each month. Currently, we have an estimated $2.7 trillion in the Social Security Trust Fund, not including what will be paid in the future.

If they raise the deficit, why can't they repay the Social Security Trust Fund?

TERRY ZOELLNER, Cape Girardeau