Mike McNulty To Head Social Security Subcommittee

The Albany Times Union reports that Representative Mike McNulty will become the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security. McNulty has strongly opposed making private accounts part of Social Security. Although I doubt that the Ways and Means Committee would have authority to do this, one McNulty idea is particularly interesting:

The new job will give McNulty an opportunity to tackle one of his pet peeves: The budget trick that allows annual surpluses in the Social Security trust fund -- overpayments from workers and their employers -- to be used for funding other government operations.

"Here in Congress, we ought to get to honest budgeting," McNulty said in an interview. "Social Security trust fund monies ought to be used for Social Security recipients, not for other purposes."