The DeMint Amendment in the Wall Street Journal

Andrew Roth

The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes ($):

Remember when Al Gore pledged to create a “lockbox” to protect Social Security trust fund surpluses from the annual Congressional spending raid? Well last week, while voting to raise the federal-debt ceiling to $8.96 trillion, Senators had a chance to terminate this notorious money-laundering scheme. And guess what? Every Democrat in the Senate joined with eight Republicans to kill an amendment by GOP Senators Jim DeMint and Mike Crapo that would have stopped the Bonnie and Clyde budgeting. The vote was 53-46, and on the list of those voting to continue the Social Security raid is every potential 2008 Democratic Presidential aspirant in the Senate, including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Joe Biden. Worse, the list also includes Republicans Conrad Burns (Montana), Jim Talent (Missouri) and Gordon Smith (Oregon), who are running for re-election this year. Apparently, these Senators want the money stored in a lock box, but only on the condition that they know how to pick the lock.

Posted by Andrew Roth on March 20, 2006 11:22 AM to Social Security Choice