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?

Thompson is Dead Right on EntitlementsBy Charlie Stenholm

Presidential candidate Fred Thompson spent some time earlier today reminding South Carolina voters about the crisis ahead for Social Security, Medicare and such programs.

The Associated Press noted:

Recurring spending demands for programs that pay for health care, welfare and Social Security will take up the entire budget within 30 years, Thompson said.   "We're spending ourselves into oblivion," he said.   "It cannot be sustained."

He's dead right on this.  We can only hope the people will listen.

It's the Demographics, People!By Lea Abdnor

Reforming the health care system is one of the hottest topics in this presidential election year. Dire reports of increasing costs, as well as the uninsured left out in the cold, tug at the hearts and purse strings of Americans. But beware of a subtle but dangerous thread to this issue: some analysts and journalists on the left are saying that the real problem with entitlements (Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid) is healthcare costs, not demographics. Thus, the Social Security shortfall-based on demographics (and increasing benefits, BTW), isn't important. Medicare and Medicaid are, they say. But, they say, you can't just look at government's healthcare costs in those programs-we have to look at all heathcare costs for the solution, public and private...thus government paid national healthcare.

As the Concord Coalition writes in a recent report, ("Honey, I shrunk the Demographics!"), "budget expert Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institute claimed in Health Affairs this fall that 'anticipated budget problems are fully explained by projected growth in Medicare and Medicaid,' and thus Aaron claimed that any so-called general budget or entitlement crisis is 'imaged' and 'fictitious.'" The Concord report also says: "Columnist Paul Krugman, after pinning all of the projected growth in federal spending on rising health costs in a recent New York Times op-ed, declares that 'the whole Beltway obsession with the fiscal burden of an aging population is misguided.'"

Concord's response to this "school of thought, "is their very well researched and well written report mentioned above. Their research shows that the growth in Medicare is 46% due to the aging of our population, not healthcare costs. The growth in cost of Medicaid due to an aging population is smaller (13%), "mainly because the elderly only comprise a fraction of total Medicaid beneficiaries."

I wonder what our Comptroller General, David Walker, would say to these recent claims. The truth is that both the aging population and rising healthcare costs are why our entitlements programs are more then $50 trillion in debt.

McCain: SS vs. Bear DNA; SS Wins!By James Hamilton

New Hampshire Primary winner, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) had this to say on the campaign trail yesterday in Michigan:

"I want to be president to do the hard things, not the easy things," he told the audience. "And we can't fix Social Security and we can't fix Medicare unless we go to you with clean hands and say we've stopped spending $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don't know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but we're not gonna do it anymore."

Seems like a good start.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010901950.html?hpid=topnews

Surprises in New HampshireBy James Hamilton

Well, Senator Clinton surprised the nation - and maybe herself - yesterday in New Hampshire. Finishing two percentage points ahead of Senator Obama, Clinton claimed victory in the Democratic Primary. And Senator McCain, who was declared DOA last Fall scored a win in the Republican Primary. There's no shortage of explanations for all this in the blogosphere today.

What remains to be seen is what these candidates (actually, all the

candidates) will say when asked the tough questions about the future of Social Security, Medicare, and other similar programs that face financial catastrophe in the not too distant future.

Listen well. And vote with your conscience.

Tomorrow in New HampshireBy James Hamilton

With Clinton trailing Obama in New Hampshire by double digits and McCain feeling energized there after a poor showing in Iowa last week, it's anyone's guess exactly who'll win the primary tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Obama and Huckabee Take IowaBy James Hamilton

In an early surprise this political season, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) won the Iowa caucuses last night. This can only mean Iowans were tired of the same old, same old and began looking to newer voices to take on the issues confronting the US. Very exciting times. What surprises are in store New Hampshire? Stay tuned... it's only four days away.

The Fatigue FactorBy James Hamilton

If you live in Iowa, take heart. It'll all be over in less than 12 hours and you won't see another candidate for four more years - at least. For the rest of us, get ready. The presidential campaigns - or what's left of them - are about to go national.

As it turns out, though, I'm already tired of it all. Most of the candidates have been running for months now and I'm reached my saturation point. I guess I should take heart in knowing that Super Tuesday isn't that far away.

The Iowa CaucusesBy James Hamilton

Four years ago I stood quietly in the back of a community center in downtown Des Moines as caucus goers met to determine which of the presidential candidates - all Democrats in  2004 - would receive the most votes. This was only one voting precinct. Similar dramas played out in over 3000 other precincts across the state. And it was thrilling to see the process work.

Tomorrow night, Iowans - Democrats and Republicans - will convene again, precinct by precinct, to begin the process of winnowing down the field of candidates. Look for a few surprises. It should be a very interesting night.

New Year's DayBy James Hamilton

It's a few minutes after midnight and the new year has just begun. The thrill of the new is palpable - new resolutions, new opportunities, new beginnings - but reality weighs pretty heavily over it all. This is an election year, so Congress won't do anything to address the financial shortfalls facing Social Security and Medicare. Americans will elect a new president later this year, but what excuses will that person find not to address the issue? (Bill Clinton acknowledged the problem and wanted to address it but didn't. George W. Bush campaigned on the issue but his fellow Republicans in Congress refused to help.)

I'm not optimistic about 2008 unless Americans make their dissatisfaction known to candidates - presidential AND congressional - NOW.