[stylin19a]

Budget surpluses are smoke & mirrors/voodoo economics.

February 2, 1998

CONTACT: Jamie Ridge (202-467-6222)

BORROWING SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS FOR OTHER
SPENDING ALLOWS CLAIM OF "BALANCED BUDGET" BY 1999 WASHINGTON -- The Concord Coalition today disputed claims that there will be a federal budget surplus by 1999, pointing out that the projected surplus is only reached by borrowing Social Security's annual surplus revenue to fund other government programs.

While today's projections from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) predict a budget "surplus" of $9.5 billion by 1999 under the Clinton administration's latest budget plan, that surplus is possible only by borrowing Social Security's surplus of $105 billion in that year.

Without borrowing the Social Security surplus, OMB does not project that balance will be reached within the budget's five-year planning window. For the year 2003, the OMB projects that the government's "on-budget" operating accounts will be $63 billion in the red. .......

Your checking account is empty. You owe $500. You clean out your $1000 savings account and move it into checking, leaving an IOU in it's place. Do you now have a $500 surplus ?

[swany]

Question. Don't Republicans claim credit for this balanced budget? Are they not also responsible for raiding Soc. Sec. to keep it balanced?