There is no Social Security Trust Fund any more than there is a tooth fairy. The fund exists only as a bookkeeping device. I repeat: The Social Security Trust Fund, on which scores of millions of Americans base their retirements, is nothing more than a bookkeeping device. […] If you went to Washington and demanded that your congressman walk you to the vault and show you this fund, he’d reach under his desk and hit the button to summon the guards. All that exists in the fund is a claim, an I.O.U. on the Treasury that will be honored only if future Congresses honor the obligation of the current and past Congresses.