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To: frankw1900 who wrote (3484)	11/11/2001 5:39:00 PM
From: Don Lloyd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24758

Frank - You've justified my belief that confusion exists, even if some of my explanations may be the cause. -g- ...They do have significance, don't they? They pay interest, presumably, and someday will be redeemed and the SS Trust Fund will pay benefits. We might not like the bookkeeping but that's another matter, isn't it? ... No. The best explanation for this is something like the following : If there were no Trust Fund, making SS payments some decades in the future would require the government to reduce payments, borrow money or raise taxes. OTOH, the existence of the Trust Fund will allow the government to meet payments by reducing payments, borrowing money or raising taxes. In other words, the existence of the Trust Fund is meaningless and is merely a means for politicians to not annoy current voters. These facts about the Trust Fund were known at the outset of the SS system in the 30's, but nothing matters less to a politician than something that isn't important to his or her political career. Regards, Don PS - I believe I remember Treasury Secretary O'Neill early in the year correctly saying that the Trust Fund would have economic significant content if it instead contained German Government Bonds. Of course it would have to pay for them initially, which isn't currently required for the US bonds.