A.L.E.R.T.
(America Law Education Rights & Taxation)
12-07-2001
The Reducing The
National Debt Con
Foreword from Gordon Phillips --
As Jim Rarey, author of the following excellent piece points out, 'There is no such thing as a 'lockbox' that will squirrel away money for future use ... Regardless of into which category debt falls, it all must be 'redeemed' with future taxes.'.
Certain species of ants are observed to herd and milk the aphid, a smaller insect. In the animal kingdom, this is called the 'pecking order'. Today, tens of millions of Americans who have forgotten their status as tax-free sovereigns have consented to herd together and be milked (bilked) by a paternalistic federal government in return for a rainbow of 'cradle to grave' benefits.
Their bilked labor is then redistributed to them as vote-buying 'benefits' in a con of incomprehensible proportions, as anyone who has studied the misapplication of the tax laws can attest. I have posted numerous articles on this subject at http://www.informamerica.com/news/archives.htm.
Once herded into a mass belief system, the human animal is all too easy to tame, as every autocrat throughout history has discovered. Brainwash a people into surrendering their property (labor) under fraudulent pretenses 'for their own good', then use those funds to purchase and further rearrange their belief system. It worked for Caligula, and it works today.
A fire cannot be extinguished by pouring oxygen onto it. Nor can a sinking boat be rescued by bailing water back into it. The only answer to stopping the enabling of mass government swindles such as Mr. Rarey outlines here is the willingness of the people to no longer be aphids.
### BEGIN ARTICLE
The Reducing The 'National' Debt Con -- by Jim Rarey
What is the national debt? Is it the same as the public debt? How is the publicly held debt different from the first two? If you’re not confused it’s because you haven’t been paying attention.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are talking about: lock boxes to save social security, reducing the debt and new spending programs. Are they as confused as the public, or are they just plain lying?
First, if the amount of tax money collected for a specific program, e.g. social security, highways (through the gas tax), etc., is more than spent for the year, the resulting 'surplus' can reduce the 'debt' if it is used to buy back bonds from private (public) individuals and entities. If this is not done, it is spent on other new or existing programs. There is no such thing as a 'lockbox' that will squirrel away money for future use.
Of course, the specific program, e.g. social security, is credited with all the taxes collected and the excess (surplus) over expenditures is placed in a 'trust' fund. The problem is that it’s not money that goes into the trust fund, but Treasury bonds (IOU’s). These must be redeemed with future tax collections.
The politicians are now being forced to admit that the trust funds hold only IOU’s but the discussion is limited to the Social Security trust fund and sometimes the Medicare trust fund. Are there other trust funds from which money has been used for other expenditures? You bet!
After a long, tedious and diligent search, this writer finally found a list of all government funds holding these treasury IOU’s. It was found on the web site of the Treasury Department at the annual report (for fiscal year 2000 ended 9/30/00) in part four of schedule 4 of the appendix. The URL is www.fms.treas.gov/annualreport/appendix00/sc4/pdf .
For those readers with high blood pressure, you had better take a pill before reviewing this site. This list of programs that have been looted to fund God only knows what, is eye-opening and sickening.
There are 88 trust funds holding treasury IOU’s in varying amounts and another 52 agency funds (not classified as 'trust funds.') The balances are made up of taxes collected, appropriations, and payroll deductions supposedly 'designated' for specific benefits and purposes. Following is a list of some of the more significant ones.
TRUST FUNDS (In billions of dollars)
Social Security - 894
Federal Hospital Insurance - 169
Federal Disability - 114
Civil Service Retirement and Disability - 512
Military Retirement - 149
Unemployment Insurance - 86
Highways - 31
Airports and airways - 13
Veterans’ Life Insurance - 12
The IOU’s held in all 88 trust funds total $2 trillion $109 billion. But that’s not the end of it.
There is another $127 billion worth of IOU’s held in the accounts of a number of agencies. The amounts are not as significant as those in the trust funds, but nevertheless are revealing. These include:
Nuclear Waste Disposal fund (Department of Energy)- $18 billion, Federal Housing Adm. Fund (HUD)- $18 billion, Bank Insurance fund (an independent agency-FDIC)- $29 billion, Saving Association Insurance Fund (S&L’s)- $11 billion, and National Credit Union Insurance Fund $4 billion.
The total of trust fund and agency IOU’s comes to $2,235,800,000,000 (in rounded millions). The actual schedule on the Treasury web site gives each amount to the dollar.
However, the total debt is made up of the trust and agency IOU’s outlined above (formally called the 'Intragovernmental Holdings') plus 'Debt Held by the Public' in the amount of approximately $3,405,303,490,221. (Treasury does not give us a split between public and Intragovernmental on 9/30/00.) The only split available is as of 9/29/00, one day before the end of the fiscal year portrayed in the annual report.
The 'Debt Held by the Public' includes not only private individuals but also any entity that is not a part of the U.S. Government, e.g. mutual funds, private banks, even central banks of foreign countries. This is the debt that can be paid down and has gone down slightly over the past several months. However, since a greater amount of IOU’s have been added to the trust and agency funds, the total debt continues to climb.
This does not stop politicians from claiming to be reducing the 'national debt', a designation that has no official counterpart. Of course, what they are talking about, whether or not they realize it, is reducing the 'publicly held debt.'
Regardless of into which category debt falls, it all must be 'redeemed' with future taxes. The significance of this 'confusion' is manifested in the annual budgeting process. Politicians count balances in trust funds and agency accounts (made up of IOU’s) as money they can appropriate for existing and new programs without raising new revenue. This is a delusion at best and a gigantic con at worst.
To an accountant, the solution to clear up the 'confusion' and expose the con artists is a simple bookkeeping entry. When a private company publishes a 'consolidated' balance sheet, it eliminates all of the balance sheet. This does not affect the total equity of the company and gives a clearer picture of the overall position of the company.
The federal government could, with the stroke of a pen, do the same. It could eliminate all of the trust and agency funds holding the IOU’s and the 'Intragovernmental Holdings.' This would leave only the 'Publicly Held' debt on the books.
This will never happen because it would make it clear to everyone, the public, the dummies in the government and the conspirators, that all of the current year appropriations have to come out of current year tax revenue. It would probably result in a truly 'balance budget' or at least make it obvious when deficit spending is occurring.
Don’t hold your breath. The spenders will fight any attempt to 'blow their cover.'
Jim Rarey is a free lance writer based in Romulus, Michigan. He is a former newspaper editor and investigative reporter, a retired customs administrator and accountant, and a student of history and the U.S. Constitution. If you would like to receive Jim's articles directly, please contact him directly at jimrarey@provide.net. Although not necessary, he would appreciate an indication of the city and/or state or country if outside the USA, in which you are located to give him an idea as to where his message is being received.
# # # END ARTICLE