I do not understand Obama threatening S/S checks. That just may be either a threat to illegally withhold the money or a huge lie. Am I wrong?

I’m not an expert on the debt ceiling, but the S/S situation is complicated by the fact that (1) the recession has resulted in a negative payroll tax to benefit payout cash flow* and (2) the payroll tax cut instituted this year which is being replaced by an infusion of general revenues to replace the taxes that would have come from the current law higher payroll taxes.

*The S/S system is still in surplus because the Trust Funds earn interest on the money they’ve been loaning the general budget for decades.