Did Clinton ever admit that there was no Social Security trust fund?

[antigop]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/10903989.htm

From the article:
>>There is, as President Clinton admitted late in the last century, no real trust fund.
>>


I know Clinton mentioned the word "crisis" in a speech where he said to keep the budget under control, but did he ever admit there was "no real trust fund"?

[shoelace414]

1. Clinton isn't president

Freepers hate him, unless they can take his words out of context

[antigop]

3. That's why I'm asking

Did Clinton ever say there was no real trust fund, or is the author of this article re-writing history?

[papau]

8. The 98/99 Clinton speeches on Social Security are posted at the gov

site for Soc Sec (ssa.gov) and do not have the trust does not exist mantra.

Clinton did understand, and said, that the bonds in the trust fund, like any other bond issued by the government, require the government to raise cash via taxes - or reborrow to raise cash - so as to pay off that bond when due.

This is investing 101 - and not a "policy" driver. At least not a policy driver in the Clinton years.

[liberal N proud]

2. What does Clinton have to do with this faux crisis anyway?

It the bu$h regime and his cohorts in congress that want to kill social security so they can get their hands on it.
No Democrat has ever tried to touch the program or claim it was going to fail. No real Democrat anyway.

[antigop]

4. What does Clinton have to do with it?

The author of the article claimed Clinton said there was "no real trust fund".

Now either Clinton said this or he didn't.

Why does it matter?

Because I'd like to submit an LTTE responding to this article. There are a number of points I can hit, including this guy's claim about Clinton.

[cestpaspossible]

5. Don Erler is a liar.

No, of course, Clinton never said any such thing.

[nickgutierrez]

6. The best way to do this might be to email the author of the article.

Ask him what speech he is referencing when paraphrasing Clinton's 'admission'.

[papau]

7. NO - the crisis was the excuse to "use surplus to fix Soc Sec first with

addon accounts that had a government match taken from that surplus.

The other 1998/99 idea was to invest the Trust in equities to "gain a higher return"

The Trust existed and there was no discussion about there is no trust.

[sandnsea]

9. I'd fight the stupid ownership society anyway

If we get into a spitting match about who said what, we lose.

"But for workers who cannot spare any money for such "frills," the only opportunity to become partial owners of America's dynamic economy is to invest some of their payroll taxes.

And who can deny that having all working Americans share the benefits of an ownership society is manifestly desirable?"

This is where we fight. This is how:


http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=371

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=331

They've been trying to destroy social security since its inception. Here's their strategy:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_01_02.php

I think we just need to beat it into people's heads that they think social security is communist and always have. They want to destroy it. That's the argument we need to win, not only for social security, but social programs in general.