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SS+Medicare budget is almost three times the size of the entire DoD budget.

Yes, but keep in mind that both are funded with specific taxes. We aren't just taking money from the general fund and choosing to support retirees. It's meant to be a "pay while working" "receive in retirement" kind of system. You can argue about the merits of that vs. a 401k or whatever, but comparing these programs to the DoD budget is apples and oranges.

>funded with specific taxes. We aren't just taking money from the general fund

I just learned recently that in fact Medicare (Part B at least) does in fact receive significant amounts from the general fund, not just the Medicare HI fund which holds payroll tax money.

One Social Security runs out of money the first option on the table will probably be to top it up from the general fund though. And once that's been turned on it will never be turned off. (MMT but only for old people.)

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