Alan Simpson: “Mr. Eickhoff notes again the hypocrisy of Washington's concern about private pension fraud while, at the same time…”

“Mr. Eickhoff notes again the hypocrisy of Washington's concern about private pension fraud while, at the same time, ignoring the massive problems looming in Social Security. As Mr. Eickhoff notes, "the private pension funds that so concern Secretary Reich are funded programs. Social Security is a mere promise to pay." That is correct-- it is only a promise. The payments promised bear no relation to contributions made by past or current workers. As the article notes, "Future retirees will have little chance of receiving benefits on a scale anything like those of today. Benefits such as they are will be paid either from borrowed money, from new debt piled onto the existing $5 trillion national debt or from tax receipts." Absolutely. That is the way it will be. And let us not forget the projections we currently have, that under current law, if we did everything of the hideous programs presented by the majority party, we will still be saddled $6.2 trillion in debt by the end of this century. We are not doing any heavy lifting of any great import. "Tax receipts," that is the phrase. That is what will darned sure be sought to pay for the benefits that have been promised--especially that pressure to pay it from tax receipts will come from the various seniors' lobbies.…”