How do we repay all those IOUs?

This is in response to Froma Harrop's Feb. 1 column, in which she defends the safety of Social Security finances by pointing out that the funds are invested in Treasuries. “Those who argue that the trust fund is empty are just trying to con American workers out of the benefits they earned through the payroll tax.”

I guess this is an example of Democratic economic delusion. A belief in government which overrides the fiscal realities which others find so obvious.

The last I heard, treasuries are “loans” which must be paid back. We have already spent the money, and issued IOUs to the trust fund. Certainly “they can't be defaulted without approval by Congress.”

But where is the money coming from to pay back those billions in IOU's, which Congress won't default on? Last I heard, the federal budget is under a great deal of stress, with trillions of debt building up — without the burden of paying back the IOUs to future retirees.

Ed Duffy

Naperville