Meat & Social Security
As we endure these painful days watching our government shutter its doors—and witnessing the quiet torture of TSA officers working for little more than a “thank you” and IOUs—my mind has naturally turned from our troubled present to a rather grim future. I find myself contemplating that great “Sacred Cow” of American life: Social Security.
Unlike the human soul, which we are told lives on into eternity, we have known from the start that Social Security possesses an expiration date, not unlike a package of supermarket meat. Based on the latest dispatches from the Budget Office, that date is 2032. If our representatives continue their current imitation of statues, we won’t face a mere policy debate, but a cold, legal guillotine. By the year 2032, benefits would be slashed by upwards of 28% simply because the law forbids the Treasury from spending what it doesn’t have. There is no “grandfathering” in this disaster; a ninety-year-old widow and a fresh-faced retiree would both receive the same haircut on the very same morning.
I observe with a certain dry amusement that our “statesmen” in Washington currently possess the coordination of a group of crybabies unable to agree on the color of the sky, let alone a minor spending bill. While the Constitution is silent on the matter of a balanced budget, the rules of the house are not, yet Congress has managed to balance the ledger only three times since 1960. It is little wonder that recent surveys place their approval rating at a meager 15%, trailing just slightly ahead, I believe, of toenail fungus.
The clock, as they say, is ticking. The stability of the American Dream depends entirely on the honor of a Congressional word that, at present, isn’t worth the parchment it’s printed on. We must begin now to remind our Senators and Representatives that they serve us, not their own theories. It is a challenge that demands statesmanship over partisanship, for if we cannot rely on the promises made to those who built this country, then the foundation itself is at risk.
