If they were stealing your wallet, would you look the other way?

Every year, the board of trustees of the Social Security Trust fund is required to produce and release, by April 1, a report about the Social Security Trust fund, including:

the balance in the fund
the financial performance of the investments
disbursements
a five year forecast

This is so that the public can see what is happening to the balance in the fund, and what trends there are.

The social security trust fund is overfunded, and the bush administration has been talking about eliminating it, or changing it.

With the administration clearly intent on doing what they choose to do, regardless of the laws that are on the books, the Treasury Department's statement today that not only was the social security report NOT released, but that they have no plans TO release it is very disturbing (to me.) It should be disturbing to everyone.

This shows a fundamental indifference to the letter of the law and their disclosure of what they're doing with public trust funds.

This is probably the most serious thing I've written to you
about.

It's time to get on the phone and call your United States senator. I
called Kay Bailey Hutichison's office, and just asked "why is this not being
released? I think this is important to know what is happening here."
They're "looking into it through the DC office and calling me back."

The rest is what I copied and pasted from two web sources. After you
read this, call one or both of your US Senator's offices and ask "where is
the Social Security Annual Actuarial Report, and why are they not going to
release it as required by Statute?" Be nice about it, but ask why
until you get to a staffer who will help.

I looked into the statutory obligations of the Social Security Trustees
as set out in the Social Security Act and this is what I found:


The Board of Trustees shall meet not less frequently than once each
calendar year. It shall be the duty of the Board of Trustees to-

(1) Hold the Trust Funds;
(2)[11] Report to the Congress not later than the first day of April of
each year on the operation and status of the Trust Funds during the
preceding fiscal year and on their expected operation and status during the next
ensuing five fiscal years;
(3) Report immediately to the Congress whenever the Board of Trustees
is of the opinion that the amount of either of the Trust Funds is unduly
small;
(4) Recommend improvements in administrative procedures and policies
designed to effectuate the proper coordination of the old-age and
survivors insurance and Federal-State unemployment compensation program; and
(5) Review the general policies followed in managing the Trust Funds,
and recommend changes in such policies, including necessary changes in the
provisions of the law which govern the way in which the Trust Funds are
to be managed.

The report provided for in paragraph (2) above shall include a
statement of the assets of, and the disbursements made from, the Trust Funds during
the preceding fiscal year, an estimate of the expected future income to,
and disbursements to be made from, the Trust Funds during each of the next
ensuing five fiscal years, and a statement of the actuarial status of
the Trust Funds. Such statement shall include a finding by the Board of
Trustees as to whether the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund
and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, individually and collectively,
are in close actuarial balance (as defined by the Board of Trustees). Such
report shall include an actuarial opinion by the Chief Actuary of the
Social Security Administration certifying that the techniques and
methodologies used are generally accepted within the actuarial profession and that
the assumptions and cost estimates used are reasonable. Such report shall
also include an actuarial analysis of the benefit disbursements made from
the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund with respect to
disabled beneficiaries. Such report shall be printed as a House document of the
session of the Congress to which the report is made. A person serving
on the Board of Trustees shall not be considered to be a fiduciary and shall
not be personally liable for actions taken in such capacity with respect to
the Trust Funds.

Source article

The Missing Report
By Matthew Yglesias | bio
I spoke to Sean Kevelighan at from the Treasury Department's public
affairs office about the case of the missing Trustees' Report. He said "there
isn't a timetable" for the release of this year's report, but that there
would be a 2006 report, he just couldn't tell me when. I brought up the
Trustees' apparent statutory mandate to produce a report by April 1 and he said
he didn't know anything about that, but conceded that there is a statutory
requirement to do a report each year. "I wish I could tell you more,"
he said.

I don't know exactly where this fits on the fishiness scale, but it's
pretty fishy.