'Lock-box' was Al Gore.
And just to be fair, look at the mess SS is in now.... A large part of the problem is that Congress dips into a sizable % of SS principle and interest to pay for general fund expenses. Let's be honest here; it's not so much a retirement payment program as a way for the gov't to tax people w/o the impression of a 'tax.'
If SS payments were/had been in a 'lock box' all these years, where it couldn't be touched to pay for wax museums, __?__ Pride Parades, etc., the situation would be far less dire.
I'm no fan of SS --- in fact, I'd do away with the largest ever Ponzi scheme in short order if I could --- but Gore's rationale wasn't completely off base. (Even if there was a 'Well, what's that going to help now?!' air to it; then again, when you get cut, the first thing to do is stop the bleeding.)