Today's editorial considers the urgency of reforming Social Security and presents one possible option for moving forward.
Although flashier issues - the war in
Iraq, illegal immigration and blame for the choking economy - tended to
dominate the campaign trail in 2008, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham made his
own unsuccessful attempts to fix a drying-up Social Security system one
of his key stump issues. When he was a 22-year-old college student,
both of his parents died, leaving him to raise a 13-year-old sister on
Social Security survivor's benefits.
"I know what it's like to
need it," Graham said during a televised debate in October, echoing
comments he had made earlier to a crowd of supporters at Litchfield
Beach and Golf Resort.
On Tuesday, as if the economic news about
the present day were not gloomy enough, the U.S. Treasury told us what
the future holds: In seven years, Social Security will begin paying out
more money than it takes in, and by 2037, that deficit will devour what
is now a $2.4 trillion trust fund for Social Security. Exacerbated by
the recession, these grim dates are several years sooner than
previously expected.
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