Despite all the lies, spin stories, propaganda, and distortions told by the pirates themselves, the following indisputable facts must be faced:

1) If America's workers had not given the government extra payroll tax payments, we would not have this horrendous debt. It simply would not be there. Isn't that amazing? We give them money—they give us debt in return. We are buying debt.

2) Instead of raising every worker's payroll taxes to the point that they now produce one hundred billion a year in surplus, the government could have, at any time, easily reduced these taxes had they been honest.

3) The federal government has a mechanism, granted by the Constitution, to raise revenue through honest contracts with investors willing to loan the government money in times of emergency, shortfalls, or for any worthwhile purpose. These loans, available through a multitude of Treasury securities, are considered "the safest investment in the world" solely because they are backed by every taxpayer in the nation and have always been the government's available safeguard. It's why we have an honest side to the national debt. It would instantly cover any unexpected shortfall in payroll taxes and it would still be waiting to be used for that purpose.

4) The Social Security Trust Fund is not a real trust fund. It's a debit black hole account that never holds any money or viable assets that can be used to pay benefits. Despite what you hear, a fund with no money cannot be "raided." Your surplus payroll taxes stay in the Treasury's General Fund until spent, and they are always spent elsewhere. (see: List of Quotes)

5) In lieu of the above, the government could have easily put Social Security's and Medicare's surplus payroll tax payments in a real trust fund just like their own Thrift Savings Plan. An investment program for almost three million federal employees that functions much like a 401(k) with options including the Standard & Poors Index of the New York Stock Exchange, managed by Barclay Bank of Great Britain, using matching taxpayer dollars, and audited by Arthur Andersen. (see: Trust Fund List)

Instead, we have the absolute, unabashed, and flagrant theft of our extra retirement and health care payments, payments for which we are "entitled" to goods and services, under a dishonest and corrupt government's pretense of being able to both spend and save the same money.

We have a scam going on, right under our noses, that involves double bookkeeping, hiding and disguising debt under the heading of "Intragovernmental Holdings" to make us believe that the government "owes itself" or can somehow redeem this debt without taxpayer money, a system of double taxation with annual interest added—and in general, a crime that makes Enron and WorldCom look like Girl Scouts eating their own cookies.

On top of that, we've got a Fourth Estate that practically ignores the subject. Except for a brief period shortly before the 9/11 war broke out, Social Security has been portrayed as an overly complicated issue that will take ages to solve and relegated to the back burner every time some simple diversion comes along.

Witness this: We've all seen what's happened to the airline industry after 9/11, but have you heard anything about the television industry that went without commercial advertising, the supposed "nut" of their business, for almost two months. There wasn't a single commercial at any time, 24/7, while we all watched replays of the towers falling, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, followed by coverage of everything from the sad search for survivors, through anthrax mailings, and the war in Afghanistan. We haven't heard a thing about the television industry's loss of revenue, not a peep from Time/Warner or the major weapons manufacturers that own a large chunk of this media, not even an acknowledgement of their sacrifice. You figure that one out.

And we've got a man in the presidency who may be there only because he promised young entry level workers the chance to invest at least part of their payroll taxes in the stock market. Without ever mentioning that it might be "the surplus" he was talking about, this small step for kids working at McDonald's probably came from his father who helped initiate the government's Thrift Savings Plan in 1987 and may be all that Dubya understood of the subject. Yet, it was probably enough to throw the election into the Florida chad tizzy.

The Bush idea that only some percentage of Social Security payments from young entry level workers might be invested anywhere leaves the lion's share in the government's hands. Eighteen other entitlements are robbed in the same manner and coupled with Social Security amount to hundreds of billions that could be invested wisely. The idea of buying stocks somebody else already owns is not only limited, it's downright silly.

At best, the stock market is nothing more than something to throw into the hopper with serious options of making loans directly to corporations and other nations, holding every single family home mortgage in the country, and competing outright with the Federal Reserve as a People's Bank. There certainly is enough money involved.

What's more, there is absolutely no reason why an investment plan better than Bush's wouldn't also be good for everybody. If it's good for youngsters who are not contributing much in payroll taxes because they are just starting out in the work force, it should be good enough for everybody. What difference does it make if a person only participates for one day before he or she retires?

Sadly, the fact is that stuffing our surplus payments in a mattress or coffee can, not investing them anywhere, would be more than twice as good as what we have now having to redeem this debt with income tax money after interest has been added. The present Pay-It-Again Sam scam is downright criminal and, as the President says, it's a betrayal of public trust where the perpetrators should be in handcuffs.