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.