If social security has it's own trust fund and does not affect our deficit, why would not raising

The debt ceiling mean we couldn't pay benefits?

Think about it people...something is fishy here.

and we have to pay interest on that debt, which comes out of the budget.

It shouldn't mean we'd be unable to pay out benefits, though.

more related to the physical issue of making non automated payments, i.e. cheques ,rather than available funds ? :shrug:

Has no bearing on me as I'm UK but I'm sure I read that elsewhere on DU.

That is it exactly.

The Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress, put it this way: "Failing to raise the debt ceiling would not bring the government to a screeching halt the way that not passing appropriations bills would. Employees would not be sent home, and checks would continue to be issued. If the Treasury was low on cash, however, there could be delays in honoring checks and disruptions in the normal flow of government services."
This is because the government receives both cash, including tax revenue, and bills at irregular intervals. So it doesn't always have enough cash on hand to pay all its debts at any given moment. (Families and businesses will recognize this as the always-dreaded "cash flow problem.")

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jul/13/barack-obama/barack-obama-said-social-security-and-other-federa/

meaning they take in enough money daily to continue the benefit payments

If payments did not go out after Aug 2 - THAT would be illegal

The Bipartisan Policy Center studied Treasury Department receipts and expenditures for August 2009 and 2010 and determined that the government likely would not have enough revenue to pay the full $23 billion payment to Social Security recipients due on Aug. 3.

On that day, according to the analysis, the government would take in about $12 billion in taxes and other revenue but would owe $32 billion, creating a $20 billion shortfall. It happens to be the first Wednesday of the month — the day a majority of Social Security recipients get their checks.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/29/257003/debt-ceiling-social-security-cuts/

'we couldn't pay benefits' he said 'checks might not go out'. That is because it takes staff to do the work, and that staff might not be there, not because the money to pay is not there. Note, the President said 'checks' when most benefits are paid by automatic payment, no checks at all. He did not say those would not go out, now did he? Nope.

"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Mr. Obama said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CBS News.

http://m.cbsnews.com/blogsstorysynopsis.rbml?feed_id=71&catid=20078789&videofeed=null

Part of it is simple cash flow.

Part is that SS is partly relying on interest payments on government held debt.

Part is also that there's a payroll tax cut currently in effect, IIRC, that reduces revenues collected as FICA but which relies on having money from the general fund replace that FICA revenue. If there's no cash in the general fund . . .

and putting notes in the jar for a long time. Only a short step for Republicans to move to "don't pay back the notes", or to "steal even more of it" by not paying out. Just my view.