Social Security's not to blame for deficit

Charles Krauthammer's column "IOUs in the lockbox are worthless" [Opinion, March 20] amounts to little more than heaping absurdities upon absurdities.

While most economists would agree that internal debt, in this case the special-issue bonds held by Social Security should be counted in the debt-to-GDP ratio, Krauthammer's claim that these bonds are worthless is a red herring designed to confuse the issue.

For more than 70 years, American workers and their employers have been paying into Social Security.

These contributions have grown to a giant surplus that Social Security is mandated to invest in U.S. government bonds to ensure the safety of this money. Social Security is completely solvent through 2037 and could remain solvent indefinitely with only minor adjustments, similar to what took place during the Reagan administration.

Confusing Social Security's projected future shortfall with this country's current budget problems is a ploy by the radical right who hate it for ideological reasons.

Stephen Martin

Wading River