Yes, there is a crisis in Social Security

Actually, there is a crisis in Social Security, though it is not what Bush portrays. For a very long time the government has taken the "surplus" -- that is, the Social Security revenues left over after all currently entitled recipients are paid their benefits -- and used it to defray current operating expenses instead of leaving it in the trust fund to cover the benefits of future retirees. They replace the pilfered funds with specially printed I.O.U.'s from the United States Treasury, and count this money as revenue on the balance sheet in order to make the budget deficit look smaller. At least since 1982 this practice has been not only legal, but mandated by law.

The following table lists the federal budget statistics since 1976. The cumulative debt should equal last year's debt plus this year's deficit. It never does. The difference is the amount borrowed from various trust funds, Social Security being the largest. All trust funds are treated in this manner except the FDIC, because the federal government does not want the banks to fail. These numbers are readily available in the World Almanac (2005, p. 119). In 1992, when I studied the entire budget document, I verified the accuracy of these tables in the World Almanac, and therefore I trust them now.

FEDERAL BUDGET STATISTICS IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
Cumulative   Annual   Surplus or Debt to
Year  Debt  Increase  Deficit  Trust Funds

1976  620.4                   160.0
1977  698.8   78.4    -53.6    24.8
1978  771.5   72.7    -59.2    13.5
1979  826.5   55.0    -40.2    14.8
1980  907.7   81.2    -73.8     7.4
1981  997.9   90.2    -78.9    11.3
1982 1142.0  144.1   -127.9    16.2
1983 1377.2  235.2   -207.8    27.4
1984 1572.3  195.1   -185.3     9.8
1985 1823.1  250.8   -212.3    38.5
1986 2125.3  302.2   -221.1    81.1
1987 2350.3  225.0   -149.7    75.3
1988 2602.3  252.0   -155.2    96.8
1989 2857.4  255.1   -153.3   101.8
1990 3233.3  375.9   -220.5   155.4
1991 3665.3  432.0   -269.5   162.5
1992 4064.6  399.3   -290.3   109.0
1993 4411.5  346.9   -255.3    91.6
1994 4692.8  281.3   -203.1    78.2
1995 4974.0  281.2   -163.9   117.3
1996 5224.8  250.8   -107.3   143.5
1997 5413.1  188.3    -22.0   166.3
1998 5526.2  113.1    +70.0   183.1
1999 5656.3  130.1   +124.4   254.5
2000 5674.2  17.9    +236.9   254.8
2001 5807.5  133.3   +127.0   260.3
2002 6228.2  420.7   -157.8   262.9
2003 6783.2  555.0   -374.8   180.2
2004 7379.1  595.9   -412.6   183.3

Total                        3281.6

$3281.6 billion, or 44.47%, of the public debt is owed to trust funds. The published budget should reveal how much of this is owed to Social Security. I recall that as of 1992, $367 billion, or 33.2%, or the trust fund debt was owed to Social Security.

How can the Democrats challenge the Bush plan to turn over at least some of Social Security to private retirement accounts? If they tell the truth, the whole country will find out that Bill Clinton never actually balanced the budget, although he came close in 2000. In fact, the raids on the trust funds rose steadily during the eight years of the Clinton presidency.

At the close of fiscal year 2004 the national debt was $7379.1 billion. That is $25,182 for every person in the United States. In 2004 the interest on the debt was $321.6 billion, or $1097.50 for every person in the United States. That is how much we pay just to keep away from the greatest default in human history.

$3281.6 billion of the national debt is owed not to foreign and domestic investors in government bonds, but to the very "trust funds" on which our retirement security depends. The money is spent. There is no trust, and there are no funds.