No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for February 22nd, 2010

The FY2010 Social Security primary deficit now projected to be $34 billion

by @ 18:38. Filed under Social Security crater.

I could have also titled this Part 2 – I already reported that between February 2009 and January 2010 (or the first full 12 months of the Obama administration), Social Security posted a 12-month primary deficit in its combined OASDI “Trust Funds”. As part of a look into the numbers, I came across the Social Security appendix to the proposed FY2011 budget prepared by the White House Office of Budget and Management.

I draw your attention to the pair of tables titled “Status of Funds”, one found under the “Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund” section (pages 1214-1215 of the document) and the other found under the “Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund” section (page 1216).

Last month, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the FY2010 Social Security primary deficit to be $28 billion, with the FY2011 primary deficit at $20 billion. The bad news is the OMB now predicts a primary deficit of $33.754 billion on total revenues of $793 billion, total outlays of $708.35 billion, and $118.404 billion of interest.

Given that the administration had planned on taking $21.028 billion from the “Trust Funds” to pay for the rest of government for FY2010, that represents a $54.782 billion unplanned addition to the deficit. At least they’re not counting on Social Security to run in the black for FY2011 – they project a $19.136 billion primary deficit in the combined funds, so the first $19 billion or so in deficits next year will be “accounted for”.

The ugly news is that the OASI “Trust Fund”, which has been running 12-month primary surpluses for all except one 12-month period (due to an unexplained crediting of payments to the DI fund in November 1994) since 1988, is expected to run a $2.934 billion deficit in FY2010 before (hopefully) recovering to a $12.152 billion primary surplus in FY2011. The DI fund began running 12-month primary deficits full-time in October 2005, and transitioned to an overall 12-month deficit in February 2009.

CPAC 2010 – Distant replay

by @ 8:53. Filed under CPAC.

First things first, I have to tip my hat to the host of CPAC, the American Conservative Union, and especially Lisa De Pasquale. They really outdid themselves with this year’s event, especially with sneaking former Vice President Dick Cheney in on Thursday.

I also have to tip my hat to Erick Erickson of RedState. That was simply the best Blog Row that I’ve been a part of – from access to the main hall (we had a balcony in the main hall plus the room behind it) to Internet access (always an issue at an event like this, but far less an issue this time).

If you’re looking for a comprehensive write-up, I must refer you to John Hawkins’ posts from Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3. I’m no good at lengthy write-ups, so my stream-of-consciousness thoughts from earlier in this category will pretty much have to suffice.

As Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said, CPAC is a place to recharge the conservative soul. A big part of that is renewing acquaintances, of which I renewed many. Since I don’t have as good a memory as John, I’m sure I’ll miss a few (feel free to slap me upside the head if I forgot) – Sean Hackbarth, Kevin Binversie (for those who complain that the Wisconsin boys are first, talk to the hand), the aforementioned John Hawkins, Ed Morrissey, E.M. Zanotti, Dr. Melissa Clouthier (Chris, you’ve got competition in the mandatory hugs department), Katie Favazza, Jimmie Bise, Bruce Carroll Anita MonCrief, Robert Stacy McCain, Obi’s Sister, Fausta Wertz, Aaron Marks, Ali Akbar, Tabitha Hale, Mary Katharine Ham, Erik Telford, Kerry Pickett, Ericka Anderson from the House Republican Conference (Sean’s counterpart on the other end of the Capitol), Skye, and Doug Welch (who is Pinky unless he shouts it out first; then he’s the Brain). Also, as John noted, Michelle Malkin, who is now the Boss Emeritus with the sale of Hot Air to Salem, made a special appearance at BlogBash over at FreedomWorks, where Ed won the first of his two blog-related awards.

CPAC is not just about renewing acquaintances, it’s about making new ones. Just some of the people I finally got to meet were Nice Deb, Juliette Ochieng (BTW, I do recommend her book, Tale of the Tigers), Smitty (the other half of The Other McCain blogging team), Jenny Erikson, DaTechGuy, Sammy Benoit, Caleb Howe, Ben Howe, Breeanne Howe, Tommy Christopher (yes, I know, he’s left of center), Cheryl Prater, Dahlhalla, Sarah Peppel, Moe Lane (and again, if I forgot, hit me with something).

The overarching theme of CPAC this year was reducing the size and scope of government. Both the bulk of the speakers and the non-Presidential portion of the straw poll reflected that. The loudest applause lines were when the speakers spoke about slaying the leviathan (shameless plug for a friend, buy Slaying Leviathan: The Moral Case for Tax Reform).

I suppose I have to deal with that straw poll, specifically Ron Paul’s winning of the Presidential portion of it. One of the PaulNut groups brought in a massive amount of people for the purposes of stuffing the box (which closed early Friday afternoon) and hear Paul speak late Friday afternoon. That was reflected in the decidedly-negative reaction from the crowd when the results were announced.

Revisions/extensions (7:13 pm 2/23/2010) – I knew I’d forget somebody, and Moe is the vengeful type (well, not really, but you’ll have to read his wrap-up to get the joke).

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