that social security is a separate account and does not contribute to the deficit of my colleague mr. lindh quist , s but in your testimony you testified that social security is adding to the federal deficit and could add more in the years to come. could you expand on that? >> i think perhaps the best way for me to answer this is the parts of my answer that all analysts would agree with and then i'll get to the part where there's disagreement among analysts. i think all analysts agree that to the extent that social security is supported by its own payroll tax revenue or by the taxation of benefits. to that extent, it's not adding to the federal budget deficit. i think most analysts would also agree that to the extent that social security is receiving a subsidy from the general fund like the general fund transfers that accompany the payroll tax cut, that portion does add to the deficit, where you get into the murky area where analysts argue with each other has to do with the interest payments that are made to the social security trust fund. right now to a very large extent from now up throug