SOCIAL IN-SECURITY

Imprimis, the monthly publication of Hillsdale College, prints an adaptation of a speech given by John C. Goodman, a well known Economist and writer, in February titled "A Prescription for American Health Care" which opens with the following paragraph. It is such a good summary of a problem which our politicians all hide from.

• "I'll start with the bad news: When we get through the economic time that we're in right now, we're going to be confronted with an even bigger problem. The first of the Baby Boomers started signing up for early retirement under Social Security last year. Two years from now they will start signing up for Medicare. All told, 78 million people are going to stop working, stop paying taxes, stop paying into retirement programs, and start drawing benefits. The problem is, neither Social Security nor Medicare is ready for them. The federal government has made explicit and implicit promises to millions of people, but has put no money aside in order to keep those promises. Some of you may wonder where Bernie Madoff got the idea for his Ponzi scheme. Clearly he was studying federal entitlement policy." (my emphasis)

Now I am not sure where Bernie Madoff got his ideas, but Mr. Goodman's theory is plausible If you want to concern yourself with the biggest problem our Country is facing, this is it. Start talking to your representatives, or we will all go down together!

More on his healthcare comments later.