GREAT SS ? from WaPo online chat

[grasswire]

From Dan Froomkin's Live Chat today at WaPo:

Atlanta, Ga.: Has anyone asked the president why we should continue to pay extra Social Security taxes if he believes the government won't be paying it back?

Dan Froomkin: No! Boy do I wish someone would, though.

As I wrote in my Feb. 11 column on "The Amazing Disappearing Trust Fund": "Let's assume that the president really believes that the Social Security trust fund doesn't exist. And let's just forget about the past two decades, during which workers overpaid more than a trillion dollars in payroll taxes. We'll write that off to an unfortunate misunderstanding.

"But now take this one more step. Shouldn't Bush therefore call for an immediate cut in payroll taxes, effective immediately?

"If Social Security is really pay-as-you-go, and any excess payroll tax revenue just goes into the general fund, why are American workers paying more than it costs to run the program? Why should they overpay Social Security payroll taxes for one more minute -- if in fact it doesn't do the Social Security system any good at all?"

I'm still waiting for an answer -- or, more properly, as you just put it, for the question.
........

Lots of good stuff in today's chat and Froomkin's column, which is still the best morning read for WH and media watchers.

http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/05/politics_froomkin_042005.htm