In any discussion of how to salvage Social Security, the fundamental flaw in the Social Security system must be addressed. The Social Security Trustees are not in the same position because Congress has largely removed their investment discretion. Yet that common understanding is not afforded to the sanctity of Social Security obligations — all because the trustees do not have investment discretion. Whether we describe Social Security as a benefit, an entitlement in the federal budget sense, or a social insurance program, one reality remains unchanged. Instead, in the decades since Social Security was founded, Congress, the Federal Reserve, deficit spending, and deficit financing using Social Security funds were negligent at worst and deceptive at best.