[SeekAndFind]

Holy ***t, are you telling me that 40% of the current US Federal receipt comes partly from TAKING from the (non-existent) Social Security lockbox?

Or correct me if I am wrong, that GREEN 40% that I am seeing is the SUM of what the government takes in from Employee/Employer FICA PLUS Borrowing from the SS trust fund?

[kabar]

Those are the receipts that come in from the payroll tax and premiums to cover SS and Medicare. As you may notice, the collections don't cover outgo. SS and Medicare are in the red, which is why the General Fund must come up with the money to cover the shortfalls in SS and Medicare Part A. 75% of the costs of Medicare Parts B and D already come from the General Fund, by law, about $225 billion a year. Premiums only cover $75 billion of the total Medicare Parts B and D expenditures of $300 billion annually.

Medicare, Medicaid, and SS expenditures total $1.5 trillion compared to $865 million in receipts. The receipts come from payroll taxes. Benefits must be paid from them including cashing in IOUs from both the HI and SS Trust Funds.

80% of the people in this country pay more in payroll taxes than they do income taxes.