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

To: calgal who wrote (175933)	8/30/2001 12:52:18 PM
From: J_F_Shepard	Respond to of 769670

"Analysts: Social Security Benefits Not Threatened" The current confusion about dipping into SS funds has been caused by politicians of both parties. Prior to the last election the Republicans made great sport of accusing the Democrats of "raiding, ie spending, the SS Trust Fund". It was all nonsense, of course, because the excess SS funds were used to buy US T-bills, the most secure financial instrument in the world. The government then used the cash to run its business which is totally understandable because with a budget deficit what else could they do with it, sell themselves some bonds?. That would be silly. But when the budget became balanced under Clinton and a surplus accumulated beyond the SS excess, the cash was not needed to run the government, ie help balance the budget. . As a result the Repub's began the tax cut chant and the dems responded by calling for a "lock box". In the lock box concept the dems claim there will be a reduction in the necessity to issue new bonds which would produce a concomitant reduction the national debt. Both strategies served political purposes. But the real point is, those SS bonds are going nowhere except to eventual SS recipients. The problem lies in the future; the SS fund is projected to begin having a cash flow imbalance somewhere between 2015 and 2030 when the baby boomers flood the system. They will be paid but it will require an increase in funds, perhaps through a tax increase, or a reduction in benefits, eg. payment at a later age.... Politically the advantage now goes to the Democrats who can do their own demagoging and now claim it is the Bushies who are "raiding the SS Trust Fund."