Government warned federal program facing its own issues
By Emmanuel T. Erediano
SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, June 13, 2012) – Before everybody gets too excited about the proposed move to U.S. Social Security, Rep. Joseph M. Palacios is urging his colleagues in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to check what’s going on with the federal program.
In an interview on Monday, Palacios, R-Saipan, said Social Security is facing its own problems.
Citing its trustees’ annual report released on April 23, Palacios said the federal program may run dry in 2033.
But some noted that unlike the CNMI, the federal government can print money.
Charles Blahous, one of the two public trustees of the U.S. Social Security Administration, in his website article, "A Guide to the 2012 Social Security Trustees Report," noted that the program’s cost has been exceeding tax collections.
Blahous said that in 2011, program costs exceeded tax...