No, Social Security isn't bankrupt!

 Every few weeks, I see a meme on FB to the effect that SS is bankrupt or will go bankrupt, and that Congress stole money from SS. This is nonsense.

It is impossible for SS to be bankrupt. As long as people are working for wages, there will be money coming in to SS. When the trust fund runs out in around 2034, benefits will drop to about 80% of projected benefits. As for Congress stealing, any excess SS must, by law, be used to purchase treasuries, which are loans backed by the full faith and credit of the US (the same guarantee that backs the US dollar). By law, those treasuries have to be redeemed at face value when they mature. Congress no more stole SS money than your bank steals your deposits when they lend the money for interest.

Undocumented workers have been subsidizing SS for decades. Fake SS numbers means employers are sending money to SS on behalf of workers who will never claim benefits. This is immoral, of course, but if you're worried about SS, encouraging undocumented labor is one (unethical) solution.

An ethical solution would be to encourage much more documented immigration. More workers means more money in SS. It also means more money spent by those workers for goods and services, which means more jobs and more SS deposits.

But that doesn't fit on a FB meme.