Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (312008)	10/29/2002 6:31:48 PM
From: David Lawrence	Respond to of 769667

I'm commenting mostly from memory, but a quick look through Google produces: senate.gov - A 1985 Senate motion - Over the last 15 years, since the time President Johnson put Social Security into the unified Federal budget, and thus into the annual budget debate, public confidence has steadily eroded. csmonitor.com - Commentary: A significant factor motivating benefit cuts is the politicizing of the Social Security surplus, rendering the surplus of great service to the president and Congress. This politicization was inaugurated by President Johnson in 1968, when he "unified" the federal budget to incorporate this surplus. This move changed the budget's position from a deficit to a surplus, enabling him to rebut Vietnam War critics who asserted that the country could not afford both guns and butter. accd.edu - Another site: Lyndon Baynes Johnson in his last term wished to leave office with a budget surplus. In order to do this he "borrowed" the cash on deposit in the Social Security system and added it to the total budget, creating what we today call a "unified budget." This practice has been continued by every president since Johnson. ssa.gov - The actual SSA site: Beginning in fiscal year 1969, Social Security and other Federal programs that operate through trust funds were counted officially in the budget. This was done administratively by President Johnson. At the time Congress did not have a budget-making process. In 1974 Congress adopted procedures for setting budget goals through passage of annual budget resolutions. Like the budgets prepared by the President, these resolutions were to reflect a "unified" budget that included trust fund programs such as Social Security in the budget totals.

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (312008)	10/29/2002 6:55:09 PM
From: David Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

That piece from the Office of the Chief Actuary Social Security Administration is worth a read. It goes on the explain how the law has been modified since social security became part of the unified budget. In response to this concern, a series of measures were enacted in 1983, 1985, and 1987 making the program a more distinct part of the budget and permitting Congressional floor objections (points of order) to be raised against budget bills containing Social Security changes. Late in the decade, when Social Security income substantially exceeded outgo, critics argued that the program was masking the size of the budget deficits. In response, Congress in 1990 excluded Social Security income and outgo from all calculations of the Federal budget, including the deficit or surplus. This measure applied to the budgets prepared by the President, to the Federal budgets formulated by the Congress, and to the budget process provisions designed to reduce and control the budget deficits (with the exception of Social Security's administrative expenses which can be reduced to bring spending down to prescribed limits). Since Social Security taxes and benefits now are not part of the budget, the fiscal constraints of the budget process technically no longer apply (with the exception of administrative expenses). Concerned that this would weaken Social Security's financial condition, Congress in 1990 established separate rules for the House and Senate that attempt to make it difficult to bring measures for a vote that would weaken the financial condition of the program by reducing revenue or increasing spending without offsetting changes.