I wonder if Republicans realize when they say any payroll tax cut would have the lost revenue replaced by Treasury borrowing, they are unwittingly showing that all warnings about the SS trust fund running dry are completely meaningless.
The only reason the trust fund exists is for political reasons. FDR thought it would protect SS benefits from being cut. Unfortunately, when it starts to run out of money it becomes an excuse for Republicans to cut benefits in the name of financial solvency.
The trust fund is and always has been economically meaningless. It simply provides the Treasury with the legal authority to use general revenues to pay benefits. Congress could make general fund financing explicit in a day if it felt like it.
It's cruel for Republicans to keep talking about exhaustion of the trust fund as if benefits would suddenly stop. It's just a tactic to browbeat people into supporting benefit cuts and privatization to make Wall Street richer.
