Government Revenues

Come default on United States' debt, available revenues will be applied against prioritzed government obligations. If Social Security and Medicare are not the first priorities, the contract between the government and its taxpayers will have been broken.

Why do I say this? Because Social Security and Medicare contributions are made from every worker's paycheck and these contributions are matched by their employers. This money is "earmarked" for those programs. It is collected for the sole purpose of funding them.

Do our policymakers acknowledge this fact? A qualification I hear every two weeks when I make my small company's payroll tax payment gives rise to doubt. According to the programmed voice that guides me through the EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payer System), the amounts specified "in the subcategories of Social Security, Medicare and Federal Income Tax are for informational purposes only."

I have always feared those words meant that all withheld taxes were swept into the general fund and the government recognized the Social Security and Medicare components only when it suited its purpose.