I’ve been hesitating to comment on the devastating Social Security crisis, not only because the crisis has been around for decades, but because the various proposed solutions are usually lacking important details. And we all know where the devil is.

But then I came across this article at Tulsa Today by Oklahoman Terry Neese, that makes things so simple even I can understand it.

Oh, I know what you’re saying: “But Mike, isn’t Tulsa Today just a right-wing hack, so backward that they still have a Humphreys for Senate campaign logo on their header?” Well, yeah. But Ms. Neese sounds so convincing.

Reforming Social Security is a confusing subject. It shouldn’t be. There are four facts every Oklahoman needs to know about Social Security.

Fact 1: Forty-five million Americans are currently retired and drawing Social Security.

Fact 2: There are seventy-seven million baby boomers getting ready to retire.

Fact 3: By the year 2018, we will be paying more out of the system than we are paying in to it.

Fact 4: The sum of the first three facts amounts to an $11 trillion unfunded liability for generations of Oklahomans and Americans to come.

There you go. That should scare you! I was so intrigued that I went to the think tank Neese represents as Team NCPA leader in Oklahoma.

The National Center of Policy Analysis (NCPA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, established in 1983. The NCPA’s goal is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector.

No bias, good! Now for some nonpartisan reassurance from Terry.

President Bush is not only looking out for the working Oklahoman’s money, he is standing tough against those that do not care about the future of this country and certainly our state. He is standing strong against anything that threatens the future of this state and country – be it terrorism or the looting of social security.

I’m feeling better about Bush’s plan to fix Social Security already, and I don’t even care how it works. But Terry wraps up her argument for privatizing the system with some good old common sense.

What makes Oklahoma so grand is not the businesses or the ground we walk on, but the people. Standing up for the responsible distribution of wages we earn is noble. Therefore, personalizing Social Security is the only way to ensure that future hard working Oklahomans will have a chance at the retirement they deserve.

Now if that don’t give you chills… Let me read that last part again:

personalizing Social Security is the only way to ensure that future hard working Oklahomans will have a chance at the retirement

Ensure we have a chance… What more can we ask for?

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 13th, 2005 at 9:26 pm and is filed under Editorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.