I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. The democrats are peddling so much baloney about the fallout from President' Bush's tax cut, I'm surprised they didn't also include the bread and mayo.
Here's their pitch: the tax cut is eating ito the Social Security and Medicare surpluses, thus putting seniors' benefits at risk. Yet, they know — or should — that there's no relationship between the size of the trust funds and the size of benefit payments.
As for medicare, there's a surplus only in part a, which is financed by payroll taxes and pays for hospital costs. Part b, which pays for doctors, is always in deficit, and is covered by general tax revenues — to the tune of $70 billion this year.
Social Security and medicare benefits are established by law and have no relationship to the trust funds. In fact, the number of years it takes a worker to recover his payroll taxes in benefits has risen every year, and will continue to do so.
Blaming the tax cut is pure politics, and they know it.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know that ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, IRS follies.