OPINION:
The bogus accounting and federal government fraud never ends. Medicare trust funds reside along with the Social Security Trust Fund in the financial blob known as the nonpublic debt. It is money the government owes itself.
Medicare and Social Security taxes are collected and spent on current benefits. Surplus amounts are spent but are recorded as available in those trust funds to pay future benefits. Interest is earned on those fictitious trust funds.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the meaning of the term “trust” in this context differs significantly from its private-sector usage. The federal government does not act as a fiduciary for trust fund beneficiaries. It can raise and lower payments from the trust funds or change the purposes for which those funds are used. In sum, we’ve been scammed once again.
SAMUEL BURKEEN
Reston, Va.
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