Leon wrote:

But in real life if the government is using your SS contributions to
run the government it is a tax. The past weeks threat of missed SS
payment checks would never have been a second thought if that fund
was a separate entity not mixed in with the general fund. Today the
SS fund is simply another Government liability account. Than you
Prez Clinton.

It IS a separate fund. Funds received by SSA go into a pile called the
Social Security Trust Fund. Those funds are prudently invested in U.S.
Treasury bonds (which pay interest). The governors of the SS Trust Fund can
redeem these bonds anytime they wish.

Today, there is about $2 trillion in the Social Security Trust Fund - in the
form of U.S. Treasury Bonds.