1.  Congressman Ron Paul reintroduces legislation to stop the raid on the Social Security Trust Fund.

HR 219, the Social Security Preservation Act, would require the Trust Fund to contain real assets, such as certificates of deposit in FDIC-insured institutions, rather than just meaningless IOUs from the government to itself.

The federal government currently owes the Social Security Trust Fund (old age and disability) $2.435 trillion, and no one has any idea how this money can be paid back.

In the current fiscal year, another $158 billion will be borrowed from Social Security and spent on other federal programs.

Congressman Paul has introduced the Social Security Preservation Act for several legislative sessions, but has never been given a committee hearing on it by either the Republican or Democratic chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee or its Social Security Subcommittee.

Undaunted, Congressman Paul has not given up and keeps trying.  In reintroducing the bill in the current session, he said on the floor of the House:

"The Social Security Preservation Act ensures that the government will keep its promises to America's seniors that taxes collected for Social Security will be used for Social Security. When the government taxes Americans to fund Social Security, it promises the American people that the money will be there for them when they retire. Congress has a moral obligation to keep that promise."

Noting the enormous deficits being run up by the Obama Administration and Democratic leadership in Congress, Congressman Paul said the need for his legislation is now greater than ever.

"With federal deficits reaching historic levels, and with new demands being made on the U.S. Treasury on an almost weekly basis, the pressure from special interests for massive new raids on the Trust Fund is greater than ever. Thus, it is vital that Congress act now to protect the Trust Fund from big-spending, pork-barrel politics. As a medical doctor, I know the first step in treatment is to stop the bleeding, and the Social Security Preservation Act stops the bleeding of the Social Security Trust Fund."

The cosponsors of HR 219 are:

John Duncan (TN)
Trent Franks (AZ)
Jim Gerlach (PA)
Walter Jones (NC)
Steven LaTourette (OH)
Thaddeus McCotter (MI)
Jerry Moran (KS)
Thomas Petri (WI)
Ted Poe (TX)
Peter Roskam (IL)
Pete Sessions (TX)

2.  Congressman Ron Paul reintroduces two bills to reduce and repeal taxes on Social Security benefits.

HR 161, the Social Security Beneficiary Tax Reduction Act, would roll back the 1993 increase in the amount of Social Security benefits subject to taxation from 85% to 50%.

The cosponsors of this bill are:

Dan Burton (IN)
Scott Garrett (NJ)
Jim Gerlach (PA)
Jeb Hensarling (TX)
Todd Platts (PA)
Adrian Smith (NE)

HR 162, the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act, would abolish all taxes on Social Security benefits.  The cosponsors are:

Roscoe Bartlett (MD)
Scott Garrett (NJ)

Both HR 161 and HR 162 have been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.