fact it is, yet unfortunately it is never actually there. The sneaky politicians in Washington manipulate the numbers to include the surplus as part of the federal budget, Morris 7even though they consistently tell constituents the Social Security surplus is in a “lockbox” and is only used for paying out benefits. By including the surplus in the budget the legislators have been able to shrink the deficit and misinform the voters. For example, the 1997 federal deficit was recorded as a mere $34 billion. However, the truth is the deficit was more like $110 billion because the “trust fund” should not have been included (Garrett: 148). This example highlights the real problems with Social Security. Nowhere in the legislation concerning Social Security does it say the government must pay out full benefits. When a specific council was set up to look into the matter of Social Security bankruptcy, the council concluded that … “in the absence of any changes full benefits could not be paid on time beginning in 2030” (Garrett: 152). Does this mean people won’t receive their “entitlement” in 2030? Sadly, the government could deny benefits, though it is highly unlucky because of the inevitable public outcry. The government actually doesn’t even pay back what one puts in. It takes the average citizen twenty-three years to receive the amount they put in. Therefore the entitlement barely gets fully returned because not many citizens live to be ninety-eight years old. However, the fact is that the Social Security program isn’t an entitlement. Congress doesn’t have to allocate money and they show this lack of compassion each year when drawing up the budget. Even with the high surpluses of the 1990s no Congressperson offered to reduce spending to help fix the problem. In fact, the last time Social Security was saved from destruction was during a bailout campaign ...
