Contrary to what Arraya and many in the uninformed news media want the American public to believe, there is no risk of a bailout for Social Security any time soon. It is true that it is now paying out more money in benefits than it takes in from taxes, but this means zero, nada, nothing in terms of the finances of the program.

Under the law that governs Social Security’s operations, it can pay full benefits as long as it maintains a minimum balance in its trust fund. At present, it has more than $2 trillion in the trust fund, far more than the minimum balance. In fact, because SS collects interest on the bonds in the trust fund it actually is projected to continue to run surpluses even through the current economic crisis.

The fund is projected face a shortfall after 2037. While there will probably have to be some adjustments made to the program at some point, this has been true in prior decades as well. It is striking how much attention the media devote to comparatively minor problem. The country is suffering the worst downturn in 70 years because the geniuses who run the Fed and Treasury could not see an $8 trillion housing bubble and let the Wall Street crew run wild with fraudulent loans and complex derivative instruments. It is those same Wall Street geniuses who would stand to benefit from the privatization of Social Security, and they are generally the folks behind the frequent meme that there is a big problem with Social Security.

An interesting thing for the media to focus on might be why the our neighbor to the north has done so comparatively well during the economic crisis despite its highly regulated financial sector and much stronger social safety net.