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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nemer who wrote (130023)	3/2/2001 11:39:50 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 769667

It's not really. The GOP invented the "lock box" to stop Clinton and the Dems from spending more. Johnson first raided the "Trust Fund" to disguise the effects his spending programs were having.

To: Nemer who wrote (130023)	3/2/2001 11:47:15 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 769667

Thanks for the link, Nemer. The whole issue does get very confused because of the funny accounting going on. Here's my understanding: If the Federal Government said, we are going to borrow the Social Security Trust Fund every year by selling Treasury bonds, it would be straightforward. The national debt would rise each year by the amount of Treasury bonds sold. Then you could talk about the Social Security Trust Fund being invested in Treasury Bonds, and possibly moving its investment to other financial instruments. This is the impression that your article conveys. But as I understand, the reality is far different. Each year's social security surplus simply flows into the Treasury as general revenue (they leave a "special" treasury iou in exchange; I forget the offical name, but it's not a normal Treasury bond). This general revenue is then used by law to retire the national debt! In short, the social security surplus is being treated as the Federal Government's money, not a third party's money. This is why I keep saying that the current Federal surplus is an illusion, and where will the money come from when the Baby Boomers start to retire? Those special ious, which are not even being counted as part of the national debt, will have to be repaid from somewhere.