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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RMF who wrote (37608)	10/5/2009 11:46:06 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Social Security Trust Fund Is an "Illusion," Warns Former CBO Director June O'Neill April 15, 2002 ... Rather than accumulating pre-funding future benefits, the pay-as-you-go plan has allowed politicians over the last 40 years to deny real assets to future beneficiaries, and has instead transformed the trust fund into promissory notes to future generations. Since the early 1960's, the non-Social Security part of the budget has run a deficit every year except 1999 and 2000. Social Security Trust Fund surpluses ? Social Security tax collections minus payments to beneficiaries ? have automatically been transferred to cover the gap. In fact, trust fund surpluses have actually encouraged non-Social Security spending. "History has shown that Social Security surpluses, if anything, have led to more spending, not saving," O'Neill concludes. ... The Social Security program has also had a negative impact on private savings and labor force participation, as workers have come to expect Social Security benefits to substitute for private savings. socialsecurity.org .................... ... Although it has existed since the 1930s, it got a new purpose back in 1983, when the Greenspan Commission came up with an idea to pay for baby boomers’ future retirements by raising the Social Security tax well above the amount currently needed to fund the program, and putting the extra money in the trust fund. Between 2018, when the program begins running a deficit, and 2042, the trust fund is expected to provide $5.7 trillion, about $100,000 per family, to pay benefits. One problem: the federal government wasn’t allowed to actually save this money. Since 1939, federal law has required Social Security to “invest” its extra money in Treasury bonds. In other words, the government lends the money to itself. Those funds are then mixed in with all other tax revenue and spent on programs such as education, foreign aid and defense. ... The Social Security surplus is spent each year regardless of whether the budget is in surplus or deficit. When the federal budget is in deficit, the Social Security surplus funds current government programs. When the budget is in surplus, the Social Security surplus pays down the national debt. Either way, nothing is saved for future retirees. heritage.org ................. Question #455: How will you repay borrowed money to the social security trust fund? December 1st, 2007 2:14 am ET Hillary Clinton should be able to answer this question, after all it was her husband, Bill Clinton that raided the Social Security fund so he could pretend that he balanced the budget. He forgot to tell the people where he got the money for that though. politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ........................ While budget surpluses were claimed in the late 1990s, such claims were bogus because total federal debt rose to new record highs, every year. That means there were deficits each year, not surpluses. mwhodges.home.att.net (This is not the most trustworthy source, but it appears to be true.) ........................ As far as the initial claim the links to prove it seem to be unevident. I recall reading back in the early 1980's (probably while the Greenspan commission debate was ongoing) that the first law was passed to raid the Social Security to fund deficits during LBJ's tenure in office. I don't know if it is true. I suspect it is at least partly true.