Alan Simpson: “It does not take too many minutes to explain that there is no Social Security trust fund. To come to this floor time…”

“It does not take too many minutes to explain that there is no Social Security trust fund. To come to this floor time after time and listen to the stories about the Social Security trust fund is phantasmorgia and alchemy. There is no Social Security trust fund. The trustees know it, we know it, everyone in this Chamber knows it. What you have is a law that says if there are any reserves in the Social Security system, they will be invested in securities of the United States, based on the full faith and credit of the United States. Therefore, they are. They consist of the bills, savings bonds, and they are issued all over the United States. Some here own them, and banks own them. The interest on those is paid from the General Treasury, not some great kitty or some Social Security piggy bank. This is the greatest deception of all time. The sooner we wake up and realize that the trustees of the Social Security system... are telling us this system will be broke in the year 2029 and will begin to go broke in the year 2012--there is no way to avoid it unless you cut the benefit or raise the payroll tax. Guess which one we will do at the urging of the senior citizens? We will raise the payroll tax one more time.”