The number one national news story over the past few weeks has been President Bush’s push to reform Social Security. In fact, Social Security Reform was the central theme of his State of the Union Speech. Republican policymakers will fan out all over the country in the next few weeks to promote the plan in hopes that Congress will vote on it this year. Meanwhile, Democrats are content to sit back and oppose the plan, but have not submitted or promoted a plan of their own. In fact, TheStateOf isn’t sure if the Democrats still exist!
In any case, any reform of Social Security will centainly be a monumental step–not for the President, not for Congress, not for Republicans and not for Democrats–but for AMERICANS. Enough with the Red State/Blue State crapola; if you are an American, this proposed reform will affect you and your family, for better or for worse. TheStateOf remains open-minded about reform, but we need more information before we endorse either way.
That said, it is incumbent upon the President to build consensus on this issue. The President and his Congressional allies will not be able to reform Social Security on their own. Republican Senators are nervous because their constituents are not embracing the plan at this point. The President will have to reach across the aisle to the Democrats to find solutions to this problem in a bi-partisan fashion. Any other path will have serious repercussions.
The original Social Security program came about after a disastorous time for the American economy, the depression, and America may not be ready to reform Social Security until another crisis hits. Food lines, high unemployment and riots made Social Security or something like it a political necessity in the 1930s, and thankfully FDR stepped up to the plate. Similarly, any reform of Social Security may be politically impossible until the Baby Boomers actually reach retirement and the rest of us start flippin’ the bill for their food and medicine.
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