Will your Social Security check be in the mail come 2015?

According to the Social Security Administration website: “The surpluses are invested in (and the trust fund holds) special-issue Treasury bonds.”

But what’s actually sitting in the Trust Fund is nonmarketable government IOUs – worthless pieces of paper.

The fact was publicly acknowledged in a 2009 Social Security trustees report by Sen. Tom Coburn and by President George W. Bush, who in 2005 said, “There is no trust fund, just IOUs that I saw firsthand … future generations will pay – pay either in higher taxes or reduced benefits or cuts to other critical government programs.”

Last year, Speaker of the House John Boehner offered a sobering statement on ABC’s “This Week”: “…Ten thousand baby boomers like me (are) retiring every single day – 70,000 this week; 3.5 million this year. And, it’s not like there’s money in Social Security or Medicare. The government, over the last 30 years, has spent it all.”

This is what needs to happen starting today. 

• Get the secret out. The total cost of paying full benefits in 2010 exceeded Social Security tax revenue by $49 billion, and the gap between revenue and costs will become larger in the coming years. On Sept. 27, 2000, I appeared on CNN Today to discuss my book, “The Alleged Budget Surplus, Social Security, and Voodoo Economics.” The host did not take me seriously and asked me if I was “a voice crying in the wilderness.” I quickly realized that he was right, with the exception of multiple statements by politicians and officials.
• Get the AARP, NCPSSM and the media involved. The only way the government was able to pay full benefits in 2010 was to borrow billions from China, among other creditors. The public is repeatedly being told by government officials and leaders from the AARP and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare that the trust fund has enough money to pay full benefits until 2033. I have tried engaging the leaders of these organizations with my research, but my attempts have been unsuccessful.
• Get the baby boomers engaged in protesting once again. Boomers are no strangers to taking to the streets to express their outrage. However, “I’m beginning to think that it’s going to take missed checks before the public raises its voices. Unfortunately, you just don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”