Marilyn Moon was one of the two public trustees of the Social Security trust fund. She held office from 1996 through 2000 under the Clinton administration.

On Thursday, April 15, 1999, Marilyn Moon appeared before the House Sub Committee on Social Security and the following dialog took place between Clay Shaw, Chairman of the Sub Committee and Ms. Moon:

Chairman Shaw: “But from the cash flow situation, would the result be any different as far as the cash flow with or without the trust fund?”

Ms. Moon: “In terms of the cash flow? I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking. I am a believer in the trust fund, which probably is rational since I’m a public trustee. I believe these are promises to pay that are taken seriously and that are an important contribution to try to erase the burden into the future.”

Chairman Shaw: “Right. I didn’t say easier, I said, whether it would be any difference on a cash flow basis if you had or didn’t have the trust funds.”

Ms. Moon (sidetracking): “Well, now you’re going to catch me on some of the accounting of which I am not as skilled as you. I believe the notion that, over time, the higher interest being paid into the trust fund by having the trust fund be larger is helpful to the system.”

Chairman Shaw: “And where does that interest come from?”

Ms. Moon: “It comes from the Federal Government.”

Chairman Shaw: “And where does the Federal Government get that money?”

Ms. Moon: “It gets it from taxes, you’re absolutely right.”

Chairman Shaw (back to the point): “Is the burden on the taxpayer going to be the same, with or without a buildup of the trust fund. It’s a simple question.”

Ms. Moon: “The burden on the taxpayer is not necessarily – I think of the question of what other resources are used for other things. If the rest of the – “

Chairman Shaw: “I’m having trouble getting an answer. Let’s assume –“

Ms. Moon (continuing): “The rest of the debt –“

Chairman Shaw: “The economists always make assumptions, so let me try to make an assumption. All things remaining equal, would the burden on the taxpayer be any different with or without the existence of the trust fund?”

Ms. Moon: “No, I don’t believe that it would be.”

Chairman Shaw: “Thank you.”

THE END

I want to thank Mike Tierney of Illinois for finding this excerpt in the archives of the Ways and Means Committee.

I would love to use this as another example in my ever expanding “Confessions” from the horse’s mouth but it’s so long. Maybe I can include it as an attachment or link.

But my God people, how many of these confessions does it take before the public and the loyal media begin to get it? You’re being screwed by your own government in a rip-off that makes Enron look like a child playing in the same criminal sandbox of crooked books.

The scam currently amounts to $3.2 trillion, $1.7 trillion from Social Security alone and another $296 billion from Medicare, the latter two from your excessive payroll tax overpayments. All of it gone, spent, and replaced by fraudulently pretending that the same money can be both spent and saved.

And just what do you suppose Marilyn Moon was going to say before she was cut off in the middle of "I think of the question of what other resources are used for other things. If the rest of the ... the rest of the debt..."? Do you think she was going to try to take pressure from her own responsibilities by bringing in the Highway trust fund, Unemployment trust fund, the Military Retirement trust or even the Federal Employees Retirement trust fund? Do you suppose Chairman Shaw recognized this and that's why he was so rude cutting her off?

Can you really continue to believe that every member of Congress and the administration, everyone that has ever discussed and approved “off budget” revenue, doesn’t understand exactly what they’ve been doing – stealing your supplemental retirement money and spending it wherever they damn please?

How long are you going to put up with this crap? They should all be in the slammer.

There’s even a website called “Citizen's Coalition For Social Security Restitution” with well intentioned good hearts who recommend that the money stolen from Social Security be restored somehow. The only way this could even be attempted without using taxpayer money, without having the taxpaying public pay a second time plus interest, would be to confiscate it from the Beltway Bandits who stole the money in the first place, all of them. And even if we included everything their relatives possess, put them all in the poor house, took all their money and property and sold it, and went all the way back to administrations of 1983, we still wouldn’t have enough to cover the amounts stolen.

A group of us even tried our own “Open Letter” to the President and members of Congress wherein we politely recommended that the government simply eliminate the $3.2 trillion fraudulent portion of the national debt, do this gradually so as not to disturb or upset investors buying legitimate treasuries, and make our government at least “look” as though it were being financially responsible. The government is so good at pretense, this strategy would work, and it would certainly take us off the hook.

All of this falls on deaf ears and is the equivalent of the old saying about beating your head against a brick wall. Should we now hire lobbyists to represent American taxpayers? Should we adopt the popular strategy of a lawsuit? Do you think it would get anywhere, even while federal judges are themselves being robbed of their retirement money?

I’m open to suggestions. Let’s put them all on the table.