Gee, too bad Bush stole the election from aLgOrE. Social Security would be safe in a lockbox right now....
Money sitting in a government "lockbox" is just like money stuffed in a mattress--your money is not earning any interest or growing in any real sense, nor is it being used to help the economy, in fact, it is losing ground to inflation. Yes, the government is paying interest on treasury bonds, but this doesn't come from anywhere but the government itself. This is like you putting your retirement savings in a sock and putting a little extra in the sock for 'interest'. The money hasn't really earned any income from outside sources. We would be better buying CD's from a bank, at least we would be earning some interest.