Wonder Where The Money Went...

Remember that old toothpaste jingle?   "You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent?"  Well, you should wonder where the money went, when your government raided the Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF).  Hum it to the tune of "Liar Liar Pants On Fire."  

This article outlines what happened to $1.37 TRILLION of SSTF money during the GW Bush Presidency.   Despite his repeated campaign promises, the President raided the fund throughout his entire Administration, creating a giant hole in the ability of the fund to meet it's obligations to America's workers.

But nothing changed with the inauguration of George W. Bush. Despite his pledge to protect the Social Security money, Bush spent every dime of Social Security surplus revenue that came in during his presidency. He used it to fund his big tax cuts for the rich, and much of it was spent on wars.

Bush maintained his fictional support for protecting these funds until 2005, until his new goal was privatization of the Social Security System. Perhaps he thought admitting the fund was depleted might bolster his push to hand the rest of it to Wall Street.  

The most upsetting part of this story is the fact that while the media covered the status of the Trust Fund fairly closely during the 2000 Presidential campaigns, the story failed to generate interest later, when the American people thought the raiding was history and the fund was safe.   It most assuredly was not.