The Third Rail?

NewsNM note - (Spence) In the wake of the President's toothless Debt Commission we will do a week long series on tackling entitlements. Washington’s management of the Social Security retirement system is no different than the way Bernie Madoff managed his client’s money. Instead of depositing participant’s contributions into a sacred fiduciary account and making long term investments in a diversified portfolio of assets, the government has absconded with the money and left I.O.U.’s in a mythical “lock box.” If any private management company handled Social Security retirement funds the way elected officials in Washington have over the last four decades, they would be villainized in the media and minds of the public, convicted in courts of law, and thrown in jail for life. To watch hacks like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decry Bernie Madoff while denying there is a problem with Social Security is nauseating.

Bernie Madoff

To be fair to Madoff investors, there is a huge difference between what Bernie Madoff clients got and what future senior citizens on Social Security will get. No investors actually knew what Madoff was doing. On the other hand, anyone who is even the least bit informed, has known EXACTLY how government was behaving as the sole fiduciary of the Social Security system. How is it with government deeming it legal to abscond with Social Security deposits, did the system become off limits for reform?

Harry Reid

Apparently political scientists and advisers still maintain that it is unthinkable that either Democrats or Republicans ever actually look voters in the eyes and tell them the very people they have elected for decades, stole their retirement reserves and spent them on something else. The Congressional /budget Office estimates Social Security is $50 billion in the hole for 2011. Maybe it is time we all admit the facts, fire those responsible and get on with solving the problem. Oops, it's too late Harry Reid just won another six year term.

The Third Rail?