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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Treasury to Tap Pensions to Fund Government

No, this is not speculation of what might happen in the future if the Socialist “boogie man” has his way.  From the WaPo:

The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government lost its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has warned for months that the government would soon hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — a legal limit on how much it can borrow. With that limit reached Monday, Geithner is undertaking special measures in an effort to postpone the day when he will no longer have enough funds to pay all of the government’s bills.

Geithner, who has already suspended a program that helps state and local government manage their finances, will begin to borrow from retirement funds for federal workers. The measure won’t have an impact on retirees because the Treasury is legally required to reimburse the program.

The maneuver buys Geithner only a few months of time. If Congress does not vote by Aug. 2 to raise the debt limit, Geithner says the government is likely to default on some of its obligations, which he says would cause enormous economic harm and the suspension of government services, including the disbursal of Social Security funds.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

novel idea just stop spending

lmclain said...

Well, they "tapped" SSI when they needed cash for programs they voted for but didn't have the funds to pay for them. Now, they plan to "tap" the cash in retirement accounts to do the same thing. It won't be long before they make a law authorizing them to "tap" private retirement accounts like 401(k)'s. They will, with a straight face, replace them with IOU's. So, don't worry. Your future is safe with them. These supposedly educated men and women have destroyed the equity in the housing market, foreclosed on millions of American citizens, and allowed their rich banker and CEO friends to decimate the retirement accounts of millions (remember Enron?). Now they have their sights on whats left.

Anonymous said...

If the government needs more money they need to take it from the pile they are being paid from. Bet they wouldnt want to spend alot then. We shouldnt have to pay for every whim they feel they need money for