WINTER HAVEN, Fla., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Economist and author, Allen W.
Smith, is driving throughout Florida in a Honda mini-van, plastered with
informational signs, in an effort to alert the public to the fact that Social
Security payroll (FICA) taxes, deducted from workers' paychecks each week, are
not being put into a trust fund for the payment of future Social Security
benefits, as is commonly believed. Instead, Smith says all surplus Social
Security revenue, not needed to pay current benefits, is being used as if it
were general revenue to pay for everything from past tax cuts to current wars.
Dr. Smith, Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Eastern Illinois University, has
spent much of his adult life battling economic illiteracy and promoting
economic education.
Smith was labeled, "a voice crying in the wilderness" by CNN news anchor, Lou
Waters, when Smith appeared on "CNN Today" in September 2000 to discuss his
new book, The Alleged Budget Surplus, Social Security, and Voodoo Economics.
Waters, who was having difficulty believing Smith's contention that the
government was spending the Social Security surplus on other government
programs, said, "We're not hearing any of this in the news. I'm involved in
the news. Are you a voice crying in the wilderness?"
A decade later, Smith continues to be a voice crying in the wilderness as he
promotes his latest book, THE BIG LIE: How Our Government Hoodwinked the
Public, Emptied the Social Security Trust Fund, and caused The Great Economic
Collapse. Smith says that most Americans do not know that none of their FICA
taxes is saved and invested for paying future Social Security benefits.
According to Smith, "Current benefits are paid from current Social Security
revenue each month, and all surplus revenue, not needed to pay current
benefits, is deposited into the general fund.
Because of this practice, every dollar of the $2.5 trillion in surplus
revenue, generated by the 1983 payroll tax hike, has already been spent by the
government, leaving the Social Security trust fund empty, Smith says. The
trust fund holds no real assets of any kind. David Walker, Comptroller
General of the GAO, said during a speech on January 21, 2005, "There are no
stocks or bonds or real estate in the trust fund. It has nothing of real
value to draw down." President George W. Bush said on April 5, 2005, "There
is no trust fund, just IOUs that I saw firsthand that future generations will
pay - will pay for either in higher taxes or reduced benefits, or cuts to
other critical government programs." Because of the empty trust fund, in just
seven years, when the cost of Social Security benefits begins to exceed the
payroll tax revenue, for the first time in a quarter-century, Social Security
benefits will have to be cut, unless taxes are increased.
Dr. Smith has published seven books, appeared on national TV three times, and
done more than 170 radio talk-show interviews, but "the big lie" (the notion
that payroll tax revenue goes into a trust fund to pay for future Social
Security benefits) continues. Now, in an effort to take his message directly
to the American people, Dr. Smith has attached informational signs to his
silver Honda Odyssey so it can serve as a "Social Security Info-van." He will
begin his tour in Florida, but plans to also travel to other states. Smith
urges everyone who cares about the future of Social Security to visit his
website at www.thebiglie.net where excerpts from his new book can be
downloaded free of charge.
Contact:
Barbara Rugel
1-800-840-6812 or 1-863-206-4431
ironwoodas@aol.com
SOURCE Ironwood Publications
Barbara Rugel of Ironwood Publications, 1-800-840-6812, +1-863-206-4431,
ironwoodas@aol.com
