“Social Security benefits are entirely self-financing. They are paid for with payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers throughout their careers.”
If this is true, then Obama lied when he said the social security checks would stop once the debt ceiling limit was reached. He doesnt HAVE to stop the checks.
Standard passive-aggressive budgeting. Assign the lowest budgeting priority to the items which will cause the loudest squawking if cut. That way, since those items can't be cut, nothing can be cut.