Correction Note on origin of surpluses

[Max Sawicky]

> Almost all of the unified budget surplus is due
> to the Trust Fund surplus over the next ten years.
> The qualifier is that a small "on-budget" surplus
> pops up several years out. (New numbers will be
> coming out imminently and I can tell you the
> exact new year.)

As Ron Ziegler used to say, that statement is no
longer operative.  It was true going by the
September 98 numbers.

New numbers (projections) apparently show large
budget surpluses, with or without Social Security.
None of these have been officially released yet,
so I don't have 'em.  The Republicans are aiming
at the on-budget surpluses for tax cuts.  In the
economics cuckoo-land we're living in, they can
say the elimination of these surpluses does not
affect Social Security.  (If paying down debt
is what Social Security needs, then any tax cut
does indeed detract from that effort.)

mbs