STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: There's a sort of refinancing going on in Washington, where the White House says a change in age-old accounting practices has added billions of dollars to the federal budget now. But critics charge the money is being taken out of the Social Security surplus. Joining us from Crawford, Texas to sort all this out, CNN White House correspondent Major Garrett, who's traveling with the president. Major, hello, again.</s>MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Stephen. You ever played the game Monopoly and you pick up that ``chance'' card and it says ``Bank error in your favor: Collect $200''? Well, that's not exactly what happened but it's pretty close. The Office of Management and Budget, which counts the money for the White House and the federal government, has basically gone back and checked on the last three years of payroll tax revenue coming into Washington, the years 1998, 1999 and 2000. What did it find? Well, it found $5.6 billion in uncounted revenue. The White House now says well, that can be added to our overall budget projections. What does that mean? Well, it means, as far as the White House concerned, that the Social Security surplus, which it has pledged not to touch in any way, shape or form, will in fact go through this budget year and in future years untouched. This is a huge issue on Capitol Hill because many Democrats say because of the Bush tax cut and because of the slowing economy, overall government revenues are down and in fact, if the president wants to spend what he's asked Congress to spend on education, defense and other matters, he's going to have to touch that Social Security trust fund. But the White House says no and the reason is because it found this new money--Stephen?</s>FRAZIER: From Crawford, Texas, Major Garrett. Major, thanks for bringing us up to date on all of that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
White House Recounts Funds and Finds Billions