Under the pretext of "borrowing" this money, every cent of it, the government has set up an elaborate system of lies and deceit to rob its own people. Only a thoroughly corrupt government could pull this off.

After anticipating almost exactly how much surplus booty they can expect, and taking years to decide where it will be spent, these bandits talk a great game of not raiding entitlements like Social Security. Then they take it anyway, as fast as it comes in, spending it wherever they please just as planned.

Pretending that they can both spend and save the same money, they award us bogus bonds in trust funds that really aren't trusts. Special obligation Treasury securities that can only be paid off with taxpayer money. Money from the same public that contributed surpluses in the first place. It's theft and double taxation plain and simple.

The latest monthly report from the U.S. Treasury, the November 2001 report, pegs the national debt at $5.89 trillion.

Despite the lies that you've heard, this debt has never gone down. It increased $133.3 billion in fiscal 2001, and all of that increase came from the surplus entitlement money stolen. The rip-off that I call the "Pay-It-Again, Sam" scam.

To make matters even worse, but carry out the fiction of borrowing these surpluses, the government pays entitlement trusts annual interest, no cash involved. They simply hand the trust fund more debt. Through what ex-senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan calls "the magic of compound interest" these awards have reached phenomenal proportions.

The flat-out lie that the government had been "strengthening" and extending the life of Social Security to at least 2036 was now out in the open. Loyal experts called for opinion were all chanting the same mantra. If and when Social Security must turn to its trust fund, the government would be faced with "tough decisions" to either (1) raise taxes, (2) borrow enormous amounts from the public, or (3) cut benefits. Any of which mean that the public will have to come up with the money in one way or another. These three choices are nothing more than the government's normal way of raising revenue whether there is a trust fund or not.

Another lie was all that talk about lock-boxes, proposals that never passed the Senate and never became law. Do you believe the politicians and bureaucrats of Washington would even think of lock-boxes if the Social Security Trust Fund were real? Real trust funds are lock-boxes.

Did you know that it's physically impossible to "raid" a trust fund that has no money in it? Not that it matters one iota, but entitlement trust funds never have any money in them, not even for a short period of time. If they did, we could hold the trustees accountable. Paul O'Neill is one of the six trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund.

Why do you suppose Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced a bill (HR-1068) to change the name of the Social Security Trust Funds to "The Social Security Accounting Funds?" Changing their names to the "Federal Old Age & Survivors Insurance Accounting Fund" and the "Federal Disability Insurance Accounting Fund" would go a long way towards clearing up the confusion involved with thinking of these debit black hole accounts as trust funds.

Can the federal government set up real trust funds? Of course it can. At the close of fiscal 2001, the U.S. Treasury released a list of 152 accounts that the government calls "trust funds." Fourteen of these were real trust funds.

You really need to examine this list. I've separated the 20 entitlement funds from the others. The Treasury separates the real trust funds and calls them "Public Debt" because they don't know where else to place them. All others, including entitlements, are considered part of the "Intragovernmental Holdings" side of the national debt, the side that should be re-titled "Entitlements and Perks."

The first thing you will notice is that the entitlements (Nos. 1 thru 20) account for 92 percent of the holdings on this side of the debt or a total of $2.25 trillion as of the close of fiscal 2001.

The other 8 percent is spread out amongst the 117 other accounts (Nos. 21 thru 138) and represented by the small green sliver in the pie chart above. They account for a grand total of $219 billion of the national debt.

Most of these many funds are perks for government people set up just like the government awards annual interest to entitlement accounts. They simply name a trust and place some special obligation nonmarketable bonds in it. No money is involved until the trust is called upon. Then the bogus bonds are cashed in by taking money from the Treasury's General Fund of income tax receipts. As long as the funds are relatively small no one seems to notice.

Some were even set up exactly like entitlement trusts. Philanthropists like Morris K. Udall or the Carnegie Foundation donated money for scholarships or libraries. The government took their money with a thank you, put it in the General Fund and spent it wherever they pleased. Then they set up a trust fund with an equal amount of bogus bonds, award it annual interest, and cash-in the bonds from the General Fund of public taxes as needed.

The entire scam is exactly like a parent robbing his or her child's piggy bank and leaving a note inside. A note that says the child must replace the money with interest. And the parent will make certain it's replaced by taking cash out of the child's allowance or income from doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, baby-sitting or whatever children do to make money. As Alan Greenspeak says: "all that matters is that it's enforceable."

The 14 real trust funds (Nos. 139 thru 152) total $39 billion in true assets. They are led by the Thrift Savings Plan (#149) at $34 billion. This is a retirement account much like a 401-K with matching funds from taxpayer dollars. It was established in 1987. It also allows federal employees to invest up to 10 percent of their salaries in the stock market through Barclay Bank of Great Britain. You can read all about it in the government's Office of Personnel web pages.

There is no reason why the Social Security Trust Fund couldn't be one of these real trust funds with practically no "transition" costs. In fact, there's no reason why all 20 of the entitlement accounts couldn't be set up this way. No reason except the fact that it would deny the Beltway Bandits their pirated "off budget" slush fund revenues.

It gets worse.

Since 1998, the government has been involved in a debt laundering operation that would make Marc Rich proud. You can follow it yourself.

Notice that the honest "Investor" side of the national debt is decreasing while the criminal stolen from entitlements side of the debt is steadily increasing.

All the government is doing is moving debt from one credit card to another at the expense of your retirement, health care, and other entitlement money.

Why are they doing this? The answer is simple. The government saves about six cents in annual interest with every extra dollar you give them that is used this way. The "Investor" side of the national debt is paid annual interest with real cash. They pay the entitlement side by handing these accounts more bogus bonds, passed out like candy from Santa Claus, no cash involved—just an increase to the tab that you and your grandchildren are expected to pay back someday.

So far, the government has saved about $37 billion in annual interest with this debt laundering. A savings that the government might even share with you or as they say, at least makes them better able to meet future obligations. And it only cost you about $400 billion in goods and services you did not receive. Much of it right out of your retirement money.

If you think that's a good investment, then you belong in a class with the kids who believe an organization bringing in $98.7 billion in pure profit this year alone is going to go under, which brings us to their biggest fairy tale -- the baby boomers (see boomer myth).

In Summary

If politicians were honest and not afraid to suggest raising income taxes, Social Security's main problem would have been solved long ago. It's really quite simple.

Stop stealing the money. Either cut back on the payroll taxes that produce a surplus or put the extra money collected to work for the beneficiaries. Never invest in Treasury securities that can only be redeemed by these same beneficiaries or their children and grandchildren.

Yoggi Berra once said: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Our politicians and bureaucrats came to a fork long ago. One path was the honest path. The other was the dishonest path. Once committed to this dishonest road, it's difficult to turn back. That's why our elected representatives are almost as afraid of the American public as they are of terrorists. They all know what they've been doing. And they all expect eventual reprisal.

If you want conspiracy theory, think of the possibility that they are all sworn into the pirate's den before their respective party even allows their names to be put on the ballot. Controlling simple reform is as much of a challenge as staying out of jail or chasing terrorists.