July 14, 2011
Glenn Kessler, the Post’s Fact Checker, did a nice job trying to pin down the law on whether Social Security benefits can still be paid once we have hit the debt ceiling. This is a tough one because payment of benefits would draw down the trust fund, which is part of the $14.3 trillion debt, dollar for dollar. This means that they would not add to the debt and push the government over the ceiling. Still, it is not entirely clear that the payments would be kosher.
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