Currently standing at $644.5 billion as of the end of April, the Federal Employees Retirement trust fund is the second largest in the government’s category of bogus marker accounts or debit black holes. It’s second only to the Social Security trust that is almost three times as much while applying to more than 20 times as many beneficiaries.

Look no further if you want a concrete example of what will happen should some realistic crisis ever cause Social Security to turn to its phony holdings, if monthly receipts are ever less than payouts. Here it is. A very real example. Read and weep.

Here’s where the FERS trust stands so far this year:

Seven months into fiscal 2005, this retirement system has been in the red every month for a total of $18.3 billion so far. Money that had to come from somewhere. No one missed any of their benefits.

After years of producing more money than was needed, after years of letting the federal government steal these surpluses to spend elsewhere, the government’s own retirement system is in trouble. And who is paying to bail them out? You are. Add some more burden on the shoulders of you and your children.

In December and July of each fiscal year, the trust receives “interest” just like Social Security and Medicare receive theirs at the same time. Each time, the payment is half of the interest against last year’s closing balance and it’s paid by simply dumping more markers in the account. It’s done to carry on the pretense/fiction of the government’s having “borrowed” the surpluses that built this account in the days of surpluses coming in. Surpluses that the government stole and spent elsewhere, just as they are doing with extra payroll taxes in the billions..

Obviously, surpluses are not coming into this retirement system any more; the same as we’re told will wreck Social Security. Is it wrecking FERS?

The federal government has but three ways to cover these withdrawals (1) raise taxes (2) borrow the money from China , Japan , or some sucker somewhere (3) cut the money from budgeted programs or reduce benefits – or any combination thereof.

You didn’t hear anything about insurance premiums going up for federal employees did you? Ask them. They’ll tell you that they didn’t. Is anyone concerned? Their benefits weren’t cut either.

What did happen is that you, the common taxpayer, are covering these “withdrawals.” You are paying for it now, through program cuts, or in future taxes because the money was borrowed. You are now paying for part of the federal employee’s retirement benefits. Isn’t that nice? Over two million federal employees thank you.

The same thing is going to happen to you if Social Security ever turns to its trust fund and you will still be paying the payroll taxes you pay today or higher. And the “withdrawals” will be much greater because we’re talking about over 50 million beneficiaries by then, twenty-five times as many. And the generally naïve public and loyal propaganda news groups will be wondering what’s going on.

Here’s what this retirement system looked like last year, fiscal 2004:

There’s a strange thing happening here. You can’t help but notice the tremendous receipts for September, 2004, almost $28 billion. Where did this come from?

It’s not annual interest because that’s paid half in December and half in June. Yet, there it is big as life. And it happens every year, whether the system is in trouble or not. (See History)

I wish they could return the time I’ve wasted trying to find out where this influx of additional nonmarketable bonds comes from. It happens every year. Every year, there’s a huge deposit of bonds received in September, the last month of the government’s fiscal year.

I think I’ve called everyone in the Treasury. I’ve waited weeks to contact what I was told was the “right” person to ask. All I get is the runaround. Secretaries and accountants tell me; “Gee, I don’t know” or “Wow, that’s a good question” but I’m always referred to someone else, even the Personnel Department where I get more of the same.

I’ve even asked individuals if they belong to or contribute to FERS and surprisingly many do not. So there’s even more to look into here. I’ve even suggested possible answers like; could it be that people wait until the end of the fiscal year to pay their contributions or do they put in part of their bonuses? The answer is always; no, contributions come in regularly every month.

When I hint that maybe I’ll ask one of my congressmen to pursue the matter, I’ve even been told; please don’t do that, we don’t need another congressional inquiry.

Maybe you’d like to take up the cause. I give up. In fact, I’m willing to accept the idea that the Treasurer just dumps more markers in the account every September just to make the system more liquid.

Don’t get me wrong here. The U.S. Treasury does a good job of reporting everything that’s constitutionally required, but we’re talking about an insurance program here. In many ways, it could be like the 119 trust accounts that are mostly “perks” and compose a mere eight or nine percent of the Intragovernmental Holdings portion of the national debt. (See Trust List) Just name a trust, dump some nonmarketable securities in it, and withdraw cash from the General Fund anytime you need real money.