Spongebob says...By Charlie Stenholm

It was either Isaac Newton or Spongebob who said, "objects at rest tend to remain at rest." In last night's State of the Union Address, the President and Congress demonstrated that government will likely "remain at rest" for the foreseeable future.

Sure, there are all sorts of immediate concerns that must be addressed: the war in Iraq, what seems to be becoming a recession and the economic stimulus package currently being debated on Capitol Hill, the 2008 presidential campaign, and so on.

Faced with all these immediate needs, some are likely to say entitlement reform can wait a while longer. Wait until after the next President takes office. Wait until the next President gets himself or herself settled. Wait until after the next mid-term election. Wait. Wait.

It's the same thing Congress has been telling the American people for over a decade. And it seems likely Congress will continue offering the same assurances until the crisis is unavoidable and the real costs to Americans are unimaginable. Seems like political malpractice to me.

Inaction, againBy Tim Penny

Monday night's State of the Union Address by President Bush and the Democratic Response by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius were tepid affairs. Sure, the media covered the evening as always and all the pomp and circumstance of government were in place, but it was long on talk and short on substance.

Given the failures of the Bush Administration and Congress to tackle the coming entitlement crisis over the course of the last seven years, it wasn't surprising the president only gave it a passing mention. No one wants to talk about this crisis when the immediate economic downturn is today's redmeat issue.

And so I wasn't surprised to hear a lot about helping all Americans in the short-term, and nothing about the economic damage inflicted on current and future workers by the government's intransigence.

It's enough to make your heart break.

Last Week's Republican DebateBy James Hamilton

In Case You Missed It...

A couple of the Republicans said some pretty good things about the future of Social Security and Medicare last week. Check it out:

MR. RUSSERT: Dr. Paul -- Congressman Paul, I'd like to talk about Social Security. The last time you ran for president, a Libertarian Party candidate, you filled out a questionnaire asking about Social Security and you said, quote, "abolish it." There are 3.5 million people in Florida --

REP. PAUL: (Laughs.)

MR. RUSSERT: -- who rely on Social Security payments. Are you still in favor of abolishing Social Security?