Mark Neumann: “We are dealing with the balanced budget amendment and how Social Security relates to the balanced budget amendment and a…”

“We are dealing with the balanced budget amendment and how Social Security relates to the balanced budget amendment and a couple of ways to correct the problem that exists. I just start through that the Social Security system today is collecting $418 billion. It is paying out to our senior citizens in benefits $353 billion. That is right, it is collecting more than it is paying out by $65 billion. That $65 billion is supposed to create a savings account, a kitty of money, a growing kitty of money. The reason we are doing that of course is because as more people reach retirement age you have got fewer dollars coming in and more dollars going out. At the time when these two numbers cross, when there is not enough money coming in to make good on the Social Security checks, we are supposed to have this savings account sitting there that we then go to, get the money and make good on the Social Security promises that have been made to our senior citizens. The idea is that that money is supposed to be set aside. Unfortunately what the Federal Government is doing today is taking that $65 billion, putting it into the general fund or their big Government checkbook. They overdraw that checkbook each year. That is the deficit. Since there is no money left at the end of the year, they put IOU's down here in the Social Security trust fund instead of putting real dollars down in the trust fund.”