Are SS Bennies "Promised"? Yes, BUSH LIED!

I surfed on by my buddy Chris' site, The Unequivocal Notion, and noticed a heated discussion going in the comments regarding Social Security and whether citizens are even officially "promised" their benefits.

Logic tells me that since I have been paying Social Security out of my paychecks since I started working at the age of 12, AND that it's not an optional payment, there MUST be a promise by my government to repay me when I retire. Otherwise, the government is essentially stealing my hard-earned money. I already paid federal and state taxes (as well as other incidentals i.e. unemployment insurance, etc), so if they are taking money from my paycheck with no promise of me getting it back, it's theft, right? I went to the Social Security website and couldn't find a specific answer to my question, so I emailed them. Unfortunately I don't have a copy of my email to them, because I filled out their online form and their auto-responder doesn't include a copy of what you wrote. Basically I told them I was a liberal blogger who had come across the topic I already described and was curious if there WAS a specific "promise" by the government to pay us all back. I received this response:

Thank you for your inquiry.

All revenues from Social Security taxes go into the general funds of the Department of the Treasury. Then, they are automatically distributed to three trust funds--one each for old-age and survivors insurance, disability insurance, and hospital insurance (Part A of Medicare). A fourth trust fund for medical insurance is financed through the premiums paid by people enrolled in the supplementary medical insurance program (Part B of Medicare)and contributions made by the Federal Government from general revenues.

The Department of the Treasury keeps these four trust funds separate from its general funds. The law requires that these trust funds be used only to pay Social Security benefits and related administrative expenses. Trust fund assets not needed for current benefits and administrative expenses are invested in special obligations of the United States Treasury, the safest form of investment available. The liability of the Federal Government with respect to these obligations is no different from that on savings bonds and the Treasury bonds, bills, and notes that private investors purchase. The Federal Government must pay a market rate of interest on these investments and, at redemption or maturity, must also repay the principal. In 2004, the combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Fund investments earned $89 billion, at an effective interest rate of 5.7 percent.

By law, the unified Federal budget now excludes both Social Security tax revenues and benefit payments in figuring the Federal budget deficit. However, because the amount of borrowing by the Federal Government is an important factor in economic policy, discussions about the deficit may include the financial operations of the Social Security trust funds. When the deficit is considered this way, Social Security financial transactions reduce the deficit because Social Security revenues currently exceed expenditures.

Although income to the Social Security trust funds is expected to exceed expenditures for many years, reserves will begin to decrease when we begin to pay benefits to the ""baby-boom"" generation. At that point, securities held by the trust funds will need to be redeemed to pay Social Security benefits.

These rising Social Security cash flow deficits will begin to strain the consolidated Federal budget unless the non-Social Security budget has offsetting surpluses. However, the Federal Government has never defaulted on any outstanding Federal debt or failed to pay Social Security benefits on time. Bonds held in the trust funds, like marketable Federal securities, are backed by the ""full faith and credit"" of the United States Government. That promise is no less meaningful because the bulk of the trust funds' holdings are special obligations.

For more information, see the following web page:

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/ASKACT/part5.html

All emphasis was added by me... So there you have it folks. It is a law and a promise. We pay into SS, we get the bennies when we qualify.

Additionally, Chris' post linked to this article where Bush claimed there were no trust funds, that Social Security simply had IOUs. According to the response I received FROM SOCIAL SECURITY, money goes into the general funds of the Departnment of Treasury, then distributed to FOUR TRUST FUNDS.

So was Social Security lying to me, or George W. Bush?