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Originally Posted by HonestChieffan
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This column ignores the fact that for several decades the Social Security payroll taxes collected far more money than was paid out in benefits. The extra money went into the general fund and was used to mask the true size of the deficit, and worthless IOUs were given to the Social Security trust fund. At the end of 2010, the accumulated surplus stood at $2.6 Trillion, but that's just an accounting fiction since Congress gleefully spent all of that money on other things. Everybody knew that money that was collected for Social Security was being pumped into the general fund.
I have to agree with the Dems on this issue. The public overpaid their payroll taxes for decades, and it didn't do them any good. Maybe it's time to cash in some of those IOUs. If you're going to argue that the Bush tax cuts must be retained, it's hypocritical to argue that the Obama payroll tax cuts must be allowed to expire. Class warfare works both ways.