At the moment, Social Security runs an accounting surplus, which makes the budget look more balanced than it really is. But, come 2019 or so, the surplus will turn into a deficit, and then grow to enormous proportions. Johnson and his Democratic colleagues proposed an alternative balanced-budget amendment that would have disregarded the deficit by taking Social Security "off-budget." This is a semantic hoax--try to take your rent off-budget and see if you need less money.