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To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (1964)	7/11/2001 3:07:25 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10077

Hi Agustus, I don't find fault with FDR a'tall. I rather suspect he'd be amazed that we haven't had the sense to modify the system to suit modern demographic reality. When established, it served an admirable purpose and did so at a vastly lower cost to the real economy than at present. I would say that LBJ's grandstanding was over the top. His generosity with OPM was certainly ill-advised. So, again, we'll mostly agree to disagree. :) Cordially, Ray

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (1964)	7/11/2001 5:18:49 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10077

Agustus, You must have smelled something in the air earlier today on the SS system. I just got to one of my favorite columnists, Caroline Baum, and as usual, she has something interesting to say. This time about the Federal budget "surplus", interest payments and the SS trust fund. I trust you'll find this of interest as well. quote.bloomberg.com <Snip> The Social Security Trust Funds historically have run huge surpluses. That's because there are more worker bees paying Social Security taxes than there are hive sitters receiving benefits. If it weren't for the Social Security surpluses, the soaring federal deficits of the 1980s and early 1990s would have looked even worse. Budgetary Sleight-of-Hand: While the overall federal budget swung into surplus in fiscal 1998, the budget excluding Social Security and Medicare posted its first surplus in almost 40 years in 1999. Politicians of all stripes moved to put the surplus off limits. The representation of the trust funds as some kind of personal account which individuals draw down on retirement is disingenuous at best. The trust fund has never been more than a bunch of IOUs the government issues to itself. Current retirees rely on the kindness of strangers -- current workers -- for their benefits. <End Snip>