[nufsed]

-----------I remember somewhat that Social Security funds became a part of the accounting magic that our brave leaders used as a justification for more taxes. --------------

And when was that?

[JoanVarga]

From Social Security's inception, operations of the OASI and other trust funds had not been included in the Federal administrative budget. To give an example of how confusing this became, beginning in 1967, budget documents included three sets of totals. The Johnson Administration, congressional Republicans, and the media each used and emphasized dif ferent sets of totals, showing deficits of $2.1 billion, $43 billion, and $8.1 billion, respectively, for fiscal year 1967.

To remedy the confusion, President Johnson created the President's Commission on Budget Concepts. The commission's report recommended a unified summary statement to replace the three competing and confusing budget concepts. Using this statement, all Federal trust funds, including the OASI trust fund, would be shown together with other governmental programs in a single budget. The first unified budget was presented for fiscal year 1969. The effect of including the Social Security trust funds was to transform a $1 billion deficit into a $3 billion surplus.

The whole SS timeline is here.