Dear Editor,
Politicians have been forecasting the insolvency of Social Security for years. This makes little sense because the unbroken string of Social Security surpluses start year 1 and run through 2018 ($3.1 billion that year). What happened to all the surplus money?
President LBJ raided (borrowed from) Social Security to pay for the Vietnam War. The President’s Social Security ‘loan’ set precedent for all those who followed. By mid-year 2014, monies ‘borrowed’ from Social Security, Medicare, and other government agencies totaled more than $5 trillion dollars! This exemplary bipartisan effort helped spend the United States into 31 trillion dollars worth of debt.
Getting out of such debt is going to require the same bipartisan effort, but from the states. Senator Tom McGillvray’s Convention of States speech (as reported by Evelyn Pyburn, 10/28/22, see YCN digital archives to read) offers a solution: A balanced Federal Budget and term limits.
History has shown the bipartisan precedent of robbing Social Security and Medicare as too alluring. The United States Congress is never going to hamper their vote buying spending spree with a balanced budget. While finger pointing politicians are preoccupied over their destruction of Social Security, we must take immediate action to save Social Security ourselves.
Our first task is simple. Go to the Convention of States website and sign the petition. An automated letter will be sent to your state senator and state legislator. Next, make time in your schedule and volunteer to help advance the COS action.
TJ Smith
Billings
