It just goes on and on while we argue and debate the value of other things about Social Security. And it will never stop. The Beltway Bandits will make certain of that.

Here’s the summary table from the “Monthly Treasury Statement of receipts and outlays of the United States Government” for January, 2005.

(To see Yearly Surpluses looted, click on the table above)

Notice that this table is “in millions.” The two trust funds that make up the Social Security Trust Fund, Federal Disability Insurance and Federal Old Age & Survivors Insurance, in January had a surplus of $16.248 billion, all from payroll tax overcharges.

These trust funds never hold real money. In this table, the $16 billion is represented by “Certificates of Indebtedness” because the real cash stayed in the General Fund and is, no doubt, already spent as planned in the budget for fiscal 2005 as “off budget” revenue. In June, these certificates will be rolled over into special obligation nonmarketable bonds when the second half of the annual interest is paid the trust, no money involved.

These certificates and bonds are held in the "Intragovernmental Holding" portion of the national debt. And who is the "indebted" party? You are if you're a taxpayer. Only taxpayer money can pay-off any part of the national debt.

Other points to note

Under “Fiscal Year to Date” these two trusts now hold a combined total of $67.640 billion, but not all of this is surplus. At least $43 billion is the first half of the annual interest paid in December against last year’s closing balance of $1.635 trillion.

Subtracting the interest that’s paid by simply handing these trusts more bogus bonds means that Social Security has had a real surplus of about $24 billion so far this fiscal year. With two-thirds of the fiscal year ahead of us, that means Social Security will probably end up with an annual surplus of around $72 billion for the pirates to enjoy, not much more than the $71 billion stolen last year. I thought the economy was improving, jobs were getting better, and thus payroll tax receipts should be increasing? What happened?

The figure to date would be higher but Disability Insurance is in trouble and has been “in the red” three of the four months of fiscal 2005 so far. January was the first month Disability had a surplus.

Notice that under “Securities Held as Investments Current Fiscal Year” the Social Security trust funds add up to $1.703 trillion, which is 22.3 percent of the national debt of $7.4 trillion. Debt is debt folks, it doesn’t pay for anything.

You might also notice that Medicare, the combination of "Federal Hospital Insurance" and "Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance," was robbed of more than $7 billion in January. With all the talk about Medicare being a bigger problem, you don't hear anything about the Medicare trust fund, do you? Wonder why?

Also notice the trusts that had a shortfall or negative position in January such as the Federal Employees Retirement trust. This means that in order to meet their obligations nonmarketable “holdings” were cashed-in by taking taxpayer money either from the budget or by borrowing. Did anyone notice that happening or feel the sting?

Also notice all of these trust funds are entitlements and at the lower right, they all add up to $2.981 trillion which is 93 percent of the Intragovernmental Holdings portion of the national debt, this portion currently standing at $3.2 trillion. Social Security alone is 53 percent of this bogus portion of the debt.

How long are we going to allow this rip-off to continue?

A real trust fund costs practically nothing to set-up. The pirates know this because they have 19 of their own that are not included in the table above. Do you see the Thrift Savings Plan account in this monthly report? And a real trust fund is a lock-box where the Beltway Bandits cannot get their hands on the money, especially if we manage it ourselves.

There are no cockamamie “transitional costs” and there is no convoluted plan for complicated “personal accounts.”

It’s the first thing we should do – stop the bleeding.