I don't have understanding. If SS benefits are paid from a trust fund,

[Jim__]

3. "... we would simply not have enough cash to meet all of our obligations,"

Government shutdown

Government officials are sounding warnings that Social Security payments could be halted if Congress and the White House don’t come up with a bill to raise the debt ceiling before the government goes into default.

That could happen as soon as June 1, according to recent comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She addressed the threat to Social Security in an interview earlier this week, USA Today reported.

“Whether it’s defaulting on interest payments that are due on the debt or payments due for Social Security recipients or to Medicare providers, we would simply not have enough cash to meet all of our obligations,” Yellen told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “And it’s widely agreed that financial and economic chaos would ensue.”

...

“Not paying any of our bills is default,” she added during the hearing. “When you think about the pain that it would cause to Social Security recipients, to food stamp recipients, to vendors who have supplied services, to the government who have their own payrolls to meet, to be told they are not going to be paid, the government is not going to honor those bills. That’s a default.”

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