The Sunday letter, “Defense budget dragging us down” has left out some important information on the Social Security program.
Although it may be true the Social Security fund has a surplus of $2.6 trillion, that is an accounting number only. That money doesn’t exist in an account to draw on. It is a bunch of IOUs the government made when they used the surplus to pay other government expenses.
President Clinton was able to show a government budget surplus by adding the Social Security surplus to the budget. Otherwise, President Clinton would have shown a deficit. Although it is a self-funded program, as of this year the amount of Social Security income is now less than the amount spent on Social Security benefits. So, now the government must start paying on the IOUs and use other income (federal taxes) or borrow (increase the deficit) to continue to pay all those on social security.
As more baby-boomers retire, there will be a need to draw more from the people paying taxes or borrow more to keep the present level of benefits flowing. So, I would say there is a connection between Social Security and the deficit.
Randy Mather
Arlington
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