Uncle Sam: What Happens When A Relative Borrows Money

It has been said many times that you should not lend money to family members unless you get it in writing. Collecting later could be tough because you do not want to cause trouble in the home.

Well, our good ol' Uncle Sam is no different.

Here we seniors thought we were getting straight goods. So when our congressmen told us that, because of the huge national debt, drastic measures were necessary...like cutting our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits...we listened in disbelief!

Seniors are team players so we thought we were all pulling together...so everyone would feel the pain. Well the miserable sons of guns have been trying to make a case for cutting back "entitlements". "Entitlements" implies that seniors are standing with hands out for doles just because they are older and feel somehow "entitled" just by being retired.

Now People, don't get your shorts in a twist, I know that seniors and disabled have been paying into the system for years, and this is a benefit policy that pays out for eligible persons so they can have some security in the retirement years.

What no one has been willing to 'fess up to is that Congress, Our Government, has been borrowing out of the Social Security Trust Fund and it is now only a paper entry that shows what monies are supposed to really be there. Don't think for a minute that there is a gold depository of trillions of dollars that we are using to send out those monthly Social Security checks.

Reality is, according to my take on the subject, that there are monies presumed to be flowing through the books which enable Social Security Checks to be written and therefore cashed in the system. Social Security automatic deposits serve to make this a real time event but the money still has to come in from somewhere because there is no pot of gold to write checks against.

Now the National Debt figures in because Uncle Sam owes us.

This controversial "national debt", dontcha know, can be summarized by listing each country we owe money to and then adding numbers up to see just who is holding our national mortgage.

The biggest mortgage holder is not China (only 1.6 trillion or 8percent), not Japan (a mere 912.4 billion for 6.4 percent), not the United Kingdom (346.5 billion for 2.4 percent), not Hong Cong (121.9 billion for .9 percent) or even U.S. State and Municipal governments with 506.16 (3.5 percent)....not commercial banks (301.8 (2.1 percent), private pension funds 504.7 (3.5 percent) or even the United States Treasury (1.63 trillion)...nope, THE LARGEST MORTGAGE HOLDER IS THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND AT 2.67 TRILLION DOLLARS (19 PERCENT).

The United States Government has sucked out almost all of the Social Security Trust Fund. The Social Security Trust Fund has been lending its money to the Federal Government for decades, and now holds paper that accounts for almost Twenty Percent of the National Debt.

The Social Security Trust Fund is owed 2.67 TRILLION DOLLARS BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

Congress has finagaled for decades with monies paid in by retirees who now are eligible for benefits. So now they have THE UNMITIGATED GALL to ask us to let them cut back our benefits so they won't have to pay back the whole thing.

That is like having Uncle Sam at the supper table, nodding at his sad stories of hardship while knowing full well he has been drunk on power and addicted to ready cash...whoops...our ready cash. Now he spins his tale of "woe is me" and wants us to "restructure" his obligation or better yet, "forgive" his obligation by lengthening years needed to work before qualifying for pensions, making payouts smaller for new retirees, (even if they have paid in the longest since the system was set up) or worse yet...telling everyone to take a payout and just go away.

Why should we let them get away with this? Write to your congressman, no heck, call or email or camp on his doorstep. There were rallies today at Republican Chris Smith's headquarters and not surprising, he was safe in Washington. However the rally at Rush Holt's office did have him communicating with constituents by video and conferencing.

This is a pivotal time for us. If those bozos in Washington do not take responsible action to honor today's obligations, we are going to lose more than our reputation in the arena of World Opinion. We are going to lose percentage points on our national debt interest obligations and Congress is going to use Seniors and the Disabled to mop the cobbles of this floor of shame.

I don't care if Uncle Sam is a relative.

I don't care if he is figurative.

There is much more going on here than bickering about increasing the debt ceiling. We are talking about a demented uncle taking a baseball bat to the family members who have lent him money. He is not being nice at all.

I do care about the way we are being treated. Uncle Sam must be challenged.

There are 52 million retired persons in this country according to AARP.

We must mobilize and make our concerns felt in every corner, of every room, of every house.

This is not just about seniors or the disabled.

This is about ethics and integrity, of honoring one's obligations, which right now seems to be in short supply in Washington, D.C.

Seniors Rock!