[Carbonsteel]

"By law these could only be invested in government bonds, i.e. skimmed off by the rest of government."

Only special Government Bonds are allowed to be spent on other govervment programs.

[RED SOUTH]

After 11 years of reforms by Perry, Texas still ranks at the bottom of many educational indicators. Texas has the fewest percentage of adults with high school diplomas, compared to the other U.S. states.

Texas is also ranked low in high school graduation rate.

Texas is 49th in verbal SAT scores in the nation and 46th in average math SAT scores. Can we trust him to reform Washington?

[Carbonsteel]

"By law these could only be invested in government bonds, i.e. skimmed off by the rest of government."

Let me clarify (posting on my phone makes me likely to leave out details).

Social Security income is supposed to have been invested in marketable Treasury Bonds, but instead the idiots in Washington invests most of it in non-marketable IOU's (Special Government Securities) so they can spend it on other programs. There is no "lock box", just a bunch of worthless IOU's.

I'm not sure this would qualify as a ponzi scheme, but it definitely qualifies as theft in my book.