September 15, 2004

Like an old movie, we tend to make heroes out of bad guys, evildoers, lawbreakers who show us a human side or a spark of decency. Somehow, we can identify with the criminal who bucks the system, violates the rules of society, even kills people, but shows that he too had a mother, loves someone possibly equally evil, or can sing and dance while making pithy remarks that amuse us. This has always been very profitable meat for Hollywood and some social psychologists.

However, when this sort of misplaced hero worship happens in real life it's a different story. When it is no longer the sort of cathartic effect of harmlessly releasing some of our own innermost feelings of resentment and translates into idolizing or at least tolerating some of the people who do us the most harm, then it's very dangerous.

For example, we've lionized two of the figures who raised our payroll taxes far beyond what was necessary and set it up for the federal government to rip-off major portions of our retirement money since at least 1983. One of these people, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, became known as "Mr. Social Security" while the other, Senator Bob Dole, even ran for President.

Here's the rest of the story.

By 1982, during the first years of the Reagan administration, there had been seven years in a row that Social Security had been forced to draw upon its trust fund (Federal Old Age & Survivors Insurance and the combined Federal Disability Insurance trust funds). The amounts never exceeded five billion a year and the trust funds still held about $30 billion in accumulated bonds, but politicians go absolutely bananas when they have to turn to this trust. (see chart)

The reason for their hysteria is that there is never any money or liquid asset in the trust fund, never. What is there is nothing but debt markers left behind when the government "borrowed" our money. To redeem these markers money must come from the General Fund of the Treasury or from borrowing. This is what drives politicians nutsy because they must either run up the national debt or do without discretionary spending they've already promised elsewhere, particularly the perks they've promised local constituents. And in their hearts, they know that they're double billing us for money they stole plus interest.

After so many years of these draw downs, Reagan appointed the Greenspan Commission to study what could be done to reform the supplemental retirement insurance program. Alan Greenspan was an independent financial advisor at the time.

After meeting once a month for a year, the commission delivered, in January 1983, a wishy-washy report dealing primarily with actuarial data and little Congress could sink its teeth into. (If you want the full report, contact me.)

Then Robert Dole wrote an article for the New York Times in which he said that republicans were not opposed to working hand-in-hand with democrats to get things done. Moynihan cornered Dole in the halls of Congress and asked him if he really meant it, and if so, they should get together to "fix" Social Security.

By 1983, the recession was over and the economy was recovering. Social Security didn't need fixing. People were going back to work and payroll taxes were beginning to roll in as normal. But Dole and Moynihan put forth a bill to raise payroll taxes to 15.3 percent over the next few years and by March, one month after their hallway meeting, Congress passed and President Reagan signed the bill.

Everyone thought that if Dole and Moynihan had been members of the Greenspan Commission, they must know what they're talking about. They swiftly passed the raise and saved themselves the effort of reading through the commission's Greenspeak or Professor Irwin Corey style cipher.

In a 1998 speech to the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University titled "Social Security Saved," senator Moynihan laid out exactly how this happened and even said; "Social Security was secure for the time being. Indeed, the payroll tax generated a considerable surplus which we have lived off ever since, and will continue to enjoy for yet a few years."

Yes indeed, in fiscal 2001 the government "enjoyed" a $97.3 billion surplus from our retirement money. In 2002, it was $88.6 billion and in 2003 it was $82 billion. This is your retirement money that the federal government continues to squander elsewhere while leaving debt behind. Debt that only you, the taxpayer, can redeem in a unique form of double taxation plus interest. It's a scam that makes Enron pale in comparison.

As of July 30th, the Social Security trust fund holds $1.628 trillion in debt markers, 22.3 percent of the national debt.

Now, we are about to be dazzled by the ministry of propaganda's presidential debates. Face-to-face statements by the candidates with speech writer answers to pre-submitted and approved questions that are much the same as speeches delivered across the country without their opponent present.

One by one, the "penetrating" questions will be presented calmly by one of the ministry's talking heads who is not currently embedded on the beaches of Florida or the winds in some Gulf state like Texas and covering such sterling subjects as gay marriage, assault weapon legislation, who can best lead and expand the military-industrial empire, and maybe, just maybe, one or two questions about the economy, job losses, our open borders or why everyone is so hot to implement the recommendations of the congressional committee on intelligence when we've already had three years to develop a Homeland Security network and the Patriot Acts one and two. All with each candidate allowed one canned answer on each subject.

The only real difference between these so-called debates and the everyday speeches of candidates will be the absence of news breaks on the Kobe Bryant non-case, the Michael Jackson situation, Scott Peterson and Robert Blake examples of our American culture along with Dr. Gupta telling us what to eat.

Again, Social Security will be publicized as an issue that the debates will never get around to, which is just as well because any questions coming from the mathematically challenged media would be shallow and off the mark anyway. It's too much to expect that either the current President or his opponent from the Senate Finance Committee would be put on the spot to answer questions like how the Social Security trust funds became more than 22 percent of the national debt, or for that matter, how Bush has managed to run up the national debt almost a trillion dollars since May 23, 2003, and where the money went.

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Archives

The Draft - A Reminder

What A Crock - Reasons For Not Releasing Photos

Tax Base And The Economy

Posse Comitatus - Do You Think You're Safe?

We'll Meet Again; Don't Know Where, Don't Know When

Banish Bush To Gitmo

Double Taxation Continues Unabated

The Stall Begins On The Debt Limit

Trust Gramps And Ignore The Polls-

Thanks George, For $917 Billion In New Debt!

Anyone But Bush -- And That's What We Got, Anyone

MSN - Money Perpetuating The Myth

Prescription Drugs From Other Countries

Booga-Booga From Greenspeak -- Again

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