Erik Reuter wrote:
If so, why do we need to continue increasing the cost cost of future social security payments faster than cost of living increases?
Who says we do? We haven't in the past. Social Security's COLAs are based on the CPI, which is based on the slowest-growing parts of the economy. If anything, the COLAs need to be based on something that tries to reflect the whole economy, rather than a politically convenient subset.
There is a problem NOW, there is an opportunity to fix it now, and we should fix it now.
Are you saying there is no difference between present-day decisions about investment and a possible (or in your apparent view, certain) future crisis?
There's an old joke about a four-engine airplane that loses three engines, one by one. Each time, the pilot reassures the passengers that the plane is perfectly capable of flying on the remaining engines, but it'll arrive an hour later. When the third one fails, the professional forecaster on board says, "If this trend continues, we'll be up here all night!" Apparently Erik Reuter would have us make an emergency landing when the first one fails.
I'm sick of your writing things to me like "Waiting twenty years with our head in the sand
will only make it worse," when I have said nothing of the sort. I have steadfastly endorsed making appropriate changes to deal with a changing population. But I don't trust you or anyone else who calls it a crisis and put words in my mouth.
The number of children living in poverty in this country is a crisis, to name one relevant *real* crisis.
Nick
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