On 8/5/2011 6:46 AM, Han wrote:
Doug wrote in
eb.com:

On 8/4/2011 5:02 AM, Han wrote:

snip


Every dollar that wasn't paid out and remains in the trust fund is
debt.
It's called intragovernmental debt:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intragovernmental_holdings

Sorry Han, every US treasury bond, US savings bond or any other type
of US government bond is debt and part of that $14.5 trillion number

The excess money paid in has to go somewhere. I like it better that SS
invests in treasury bonds, bills, or notes, than in Lehman Brothers in
the last weeks of its existence. DAMHIKT.

So some of the SS paid in goes to the treasury as investment, in exchange
for the promise of the treasury to pay when needed. That isn't
profligate debt as in going to war and cutting taxes.



I looked and looked, but couldn't find the difference between regular
debt and profligate debt. Seems the result is all the same when it
comes time to pay.