Bush shows his hand, finally - 02/09/05
George W. Bush has now revealed his true plan for
destroying Social Security - by defaulting on the Trust
Funds.
Bush said yesterday, outright, that the Social
Security Trust Fund doesn't exist (tip 'o the hat to
Josh
Marshall for catching that), thereby violating the
Constitution, his oath of office, and implicating him in
a conspiracy to steal a couple of trillion dollars from
US taxpayers.
Well, it does, physically, exist, providing an
unparalleled opportunity for a bit of guerilla political
theater that could embarrass the hell out of Bush and the
GOP - a Congressional delegation could go visit the Trust
Fund, and make it into a nice, educational media
event.
Let's all contact our
Senators and Representatives,
tell them to call Bush's bluff by going and checking it
out for us!
In the
official White House news release of Bush's
appearance at the Commerce Department on February 9,
"our" President is quoted as saying:
Some in our country think that Social Security is a
trust fund -- in other words, there's a pile of money
being accumulated. That's just simply not true. The
money -- payroll taxes going into the Social Security
are spent. They're spent on benefits and they're spent
on government programs. There is no trust.
A recently published
Philadelphia Inquirer article says quite the
contrary:
For those of you wondering whether there is such a
thing as the Social Security Trust Fund, let us call
your attention to the H.J. Hintgen Building, corner of
Second and Avery, in Parkersburg, W.Va.
That's where the fund resides, in a drawer of a
locked gray file cabinet, monitored by the Office of
Public Debt Accounting, Bureau of Public Debt, U.S.
Department of the Treasury.
The fund's holdings consist of 225 pieces of paper,
each one representing Special Issue U.S. Treasury Bonds
in multibillion-dollar denominations, $1.76 trillion in
all.
What does it say on those pieces of paper?
According to US law (42 USC 401 (d) (2)), each of
those pieces of paper has printed on it words that confer
a most solemn and utterly unavoidable obligation on the
part of the US Government:
The purposes for which obligations of the United States
may be issued under Chapter 31 of Title 31 are hereby
extended to authorize the issuance at par of
public-debt obligations for purchase by the Trust
Funds.
...
Each obligation issued for purchase by the Trust Funds
under this subsection shall be evidenced by a paper
instrument in the form of a bond, note, or certificate
of indebtedness issued by the Secretary of the Treasury
setting forth the principal amount, date of maturity,
and interest rate of the obligation, and stating on
its face that the obligation shall be incontestable in
the hands of the Trust Fund to which it is issued, that
the obligation is supported by the full faith and
credit of the United States, and that the United States
is pledged to the payment of the obligation with
respect to both principal and interest.
(Emphasis added).
Those words seem very clear: "... the obligation shall
be incontestable ... supported by the full faith and
credit of the United States ... the United States is
pledged to the payment ... both principal and
interest".
But, Bush has said "There is no trust."
Does Bush know something that we don't? Has Bush had
Donald Rumsfeld send some of his special ops types off to
Parkersburg, W.Va. to break into that file drawer, and
haul the bonds off to Syria for questioning, or
worse?
Should we be worried, now, by Bush's claim? Perhaps
some of our elected representatives could be persuaded to
go and visit the nice folks at the Bureau of Public Debt,
take along some members of the print and broadcast media,
and just take a look in that file drawer and make sure
the Trust Funds are still in the drawer. It also wouldn't
hurt to have the media take some good, clear closeups of
the fine print on the bonds, that says "the obligation
shall be incontestable ... full faith and credit of the
United States ...", and so forth, and broadcast those
shots, to reassure the taxpayers who put that $1.76
trillion there that their contributions are safe, and
that they will indeed get them back in future Social
Security Benefits.
It wouldn't hurt, while reassuring the public about
the integrity of the Trust Funds, to remind the voters
that Bush's threat to default on the Trust Funds violates
both the Constitution ("The validity of the public debt
of the United States ... shall not be questioned") and
his recently re-sworn oath of office to "... faithfully
execute the office of President ...", including his
Constitutional duty to "... take care that the laws be
faithfully executed ...".
While the representatives are organizing their trip,
maybe some enterprising media types might just contact
the Bureau of Public debt right away and ask them whether
anything is amiss, or perhaps pay a little visit.
The funds are probably in the office that's especially
for taking care of Trust Fund assets, the Trust Fund
Management office. They keep nice books there; anyone can
look over their
balance sheets anytime.
Still, it would be very reassuring to know that the
Trust Fund bonds are physically there, and are all
right.
Members of Congress, or reporters, who want to contact
the office or visit should phone the public relations
office of the Bureau of Public Debt at 1-202-504-3502.