Babblin' over coffee

I stumbled into presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's comment about Social Security the other day: "Let's just remember that Social Security is not the government's money. It belongs to the people who had it taken out of their checks involuntarily their entire working lives."

That reminded me of explanations about the Social Security fund offered by 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack. The congressman was joined last week by state Sen. Scott Flippo of Mountain Home around the daily coffee group's corner table at the busy Town House Cafe on the Harrison Square.

The congressman basically said that, contrary to popular notion, the Social Security Trust Fund remains just where it's always been and continues to pay full benefits to eligible recipients. Yes, money from the fund established in 1935 was once held in trust until about 1980 when government began taking from it to help fund programs and operations. And yes, the congressman reminded, by about 2030, the fund will be approaching insolvency based on increasingly fewer working contributors and our rapidly aging baby boomer population.

But for now, the fund functions as it always has, although our nation overall is more than $18 trillion in debt. The government has been replacing what it takes from the fund with what amounts to "IOUs" while continuing to pay interest on the funds it borrows.

Conversation among the 10 around the table was lively, as you might imagine. Some expressed displeasure the federal government ever decided to begin tapping this "trust fund" to begin with. But Womack assured everyone that eligible Americans continue to be paid, so basically, for now anyway, not to worry. Social Insecurity remains more than a decade hence.

One veteran and witty Town House coffee clubber, Hank Thompson, who among various careers in public service was a high-level staffer for former 1st District Rep. Bill Alexander, later expressed the confusion and concern several others shared when he said: "Let me get this straight. You have a pot of Social Security money. You take the money out and put an IOU in its place. You spend the money you take out but you generously pay interest on the money you've taken. So the greenbacks are actually gone and you tell me really the cash is still there because we are paying interest on it. Whometh are the idiots, the electees or the electors?"

Well, I suppose it means our government continues to pay interest to the fund on paper (using our skyrocketing national indebtedness) on what it removes and replaces with the IOUs. Hmmm, well, maybe I'm the idiot. Hank even coined a phrase for the condition where folks are left dazed and confused by Washingtonian explanations. He's called it "the beltway babble."

Hometown shout-out

Since I'm on the subject of my hometown today (well, kinda), I wanted to offer a richly deserved shout-out to the people of this friendly and picturesque community who make it one of the finest towns of 13,000 souls in the country.

Yes, I realize full well how the actions of a few have left a stain of supposed racism on the overwhelming majority of good, caring and accepting people here. But the truth is that the community has given our state such contributors as Brandon Burlsworth, former Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court Jim Hannah, 13-term Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, American Freightways trucking tycoon Sheridan Garrison and acclaimed poet and Brown University professor Carolyn "C.W." Wright, along with so many others whose lives are wonderful legacies.

Add to that the honor bestowed by the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, which on Monday presented Harrison with its "Dream Keepers Award" for the town's years of sustained efforts and contributions toward enhancing and promoting race relations and community service among Arkansans and youth. Perhaps you can understand why I take such pride in this active burg nestled in the Ozarks.

Americans as barter

I told a friend at the time we exchanged seven Iranian prisoners serving time in our country for four American political hostages being held on bogus charges in that country that we'd opened yet another Pandora's box.

For me, this trade can't help but mean any Americans taken captive overseas instantly become bartering chips for radical Islamic prisoners, or whatever demands might be made, all thanks to the latest swap our Obama administration cut with Iran.

At one time our nation rightly refused to bargain in that way. Remember how America, even under Democrat President Jimmy Carter, didn't negotiate with terrorists for this very reason?

Within days of this Iranian swap, three Americans were kidnapped in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

This latest regrettable development in foreign "policy" should be enough to give any citizen of the United States pause before venturing into other countries today where levels of radical infiltration aren't known.

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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].

Editorial on 01/23/2016

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