We Should Protect Pending Surpluses From Spendthrifts

Wed., Aug. 11, 1999

Mike Crapo Special To Roundta

On July 16, 1999, I voted for the sixth time to protect the Social Security Trust Fund by voting for the Social Security “lock box.” This legislation, which uses the lock box concept that I developed in the House of Representatives to protect our budget against spiraling deficits, is now being used in the United States Senate to protect Social Security surpluses so that they cannot be spent on non-Social Security purposes.

On this vote, and on four prior occasions, a minority of senators used procedural tactics to prevent consideration of the bill and voted against even allowing the Senate to debate the Social Security lock box. In effect, these senators are telling the American people that they want to continue to spend the Social Security surplus.

In July, both the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget released their mid-year budget projections. Both the CBO and the OMB predicted that the economy and the federal budget are in much better shape than previously assumed. For instance, the federal government is now expected to have a non-Social Security surplus (sometimes called an on-budget surplus) by next year - one full year earlier than previous estimates.

The CBO now predicts an overall budget surplus of $161 billion and an on-budget surplus of $14 billion in 2000, while OMB predicts a $142 billion overall surplus and a $5 billion on-budget surplus for 2000. In addition, both the CBO and OMB predict larger overall surpluses over the next 10 years, $2.895 trillion and $2.826 trillion, respectively.

The news of a greater surplus is good news and a major accomplishment for our nation. It makes it much more possible to meet our nation’s future financial obligations.

At the same time, the larger surplus could fuel the excessive spending habits of those who would like to spend the surplus on new government projects and programs. We must continue to protect the surplus and be vigilant in our efforts to control federal spending so that we do not find ourselves back in the situation of excessive spending and increasing deficits.

Ever since President Lyndon B. Johnson began including Social Security surpluses in the calculation of the federal budget in 1969, the federal government has been, in effect, raiding the Social Security surplus to pay for other big spending programs. This creates the impression that the federal deficit is smaller than it actually is. It is time to stop this practice, lock away the Social Security surplus and prevent this and future congresses and presidents from spending our future.

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