For the last several years it has been forecast that Social Security will take in less money than they will pay out in 2015. Now it is being forecast Social Security will start paying more out that they receive in 2010.

This should not surprise anyone who has been paying attention to the economy for the last year.

Social Security has been financing the government for over 20 years. They are holding trillions in government bonds that are supposedly redeemable upon demand. We have been paying into Social Security every time we receive a paycheck with the promise that we will receive our benefits when we qualify, whether it is retirement, disability, or survivor benefits.

I just read Allan Sloan’s article in Fortune discussing the problems that the Social Security Administration is facing. The title of the article is “The Next Great Bailout,” referring to Social Security. This title is not only erroneous but insulting to the millions of people who have been paying Social Security taxes year after year. Social Security does not need a bailout! Redemption of the trillions of dollars of government bonds they are holding is not a bail out. It is money that is owed to Social Security by the Federal government who has for years confiscated, although legally, the billions of extra Social Security taxes paid and used to make the federal deficit look smaller than it truly was. Now the Feds have to step up to the plate and pay off their debt, probably by borrowing from another source.

Allan Sloan compares the previous bailouts of “incompetent banks, faddish mortgage borrowers, General Motors, AIG, GMAC, and Wall Street” as “pigs feeding at Uncle Sam’s trough. To say the least, I loved the comparison, particularly with the almost daily news that we here about how these pigs are using the bail out money.

There is no question that Social Security needs fixing. It cannot continue paying the benefits they are currently paying and hope to continue to be solvent, especially with the onslaught of the baby boomers. Change is needed. But let’s call it what it is.

The Social Security Administration began issuing debit cards last year to those who did not have direct deposit and wanted an easier way to receive their monthly benefits other than by check. SSA has always had problems with checks being lost, stolen or delayed in the mail. With the advent of direct deposit, much of this problem was resolved. But there were many who did not have bank accounts.

And paying benefits digitally rather than by paper is a big savings to SSA. It cost about $1.00 to mail a paper check and only 10 to 12 cents to do it by automated transfer. With the 500,000 people already signed up for the debit card, it is saving the SSA about $440,000 each month. And SSA needs every one of those dollars!

Along came the debit cards. Each month, the amount of the Social Security benefit is added to the card. There are no fees for signing up and you can get one free replacement card each year if you should lose the card.

Sounds like a safe and easy way to receive your money. It is if you use it carefully and know about additional fees that can be charged if you are not careful. Some of those fees include a $4.00 charge for a second replacement card in a year, $.75 for a monthly statement by mail, $.90 for each ATM withdrawal after the first one, plus additional fees if you use an out-of-network ATM machine, which seem to be difficult to find. If you need cash, your best bet is to get cash back when you purchase something.

This is a very positive step by SSA in resolving many of the problems revolving around lost, stolen, or delayed checks. Kudos for SSA!