Of all the myths about Social Security that have been raised since Walter Williams' piece, few are more insidious than the one put forth by Steven Curtis ("Social Security myths," Readers' Forum, Sept. 8).
The reason this argument is so insidious is that every fact put forth by Curtis is true, but it leads people to a conclusion that is absolutely false. There is a trust fund, and it does earn interest, and the logical conclusion that there is money in the bank that can be used when Social Security tax revenue falls behind Social Security payouts as happened this year. This conclusion, however, is utterly false. If you take a look behind the curtain, what you will see is that all Social Security surplus revenue is immediately put into the general fund and spent on whatever the federal government wants to spend it on. After they've spent the money, they put an IOU in the Social Security trust fund and start letting that IOU accrue interest. That's not money in the bank, its a future debt that can only be repaid through tax revenue. So instead of a reserve to draw upon in lean times, the Social Security trust fund is yet another monument to what the federal government does best: pay for programs now by taxing those not yet born.
Brad Daw
Orem