Posted on 03/15/2004 9:52:22 PM PST by Bob J
Listen, grandchildren, and you shall know of a piggy bank that ain't no mo'; For years they deducted part of our pay, and promised they would salt it away; Instead, they made it a money tree, then shook it with shameless chicanery; This caused every dollar to disappear before our very first golden year; To cut to the chase, kids, we're sad but sure that your Social Security is insecure;
With apologies to Longfellow, that bit of homespun doggerel fairly expresses the sorry state of a program which, like the Garden of Eden, went awry due to human mismanagement, thus dooming succeeding generations to hardship unintended by its planners.
Describing Social Security in 1935, President Roosevelt wrote: "We can never insure one-hundred percent of the population against one-hundred percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life. But we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age."
Clearly, FDR and his co-architects had in mind insuring an economically comfortable sunset stroll for those able to beat the rap of a then life expectancy of 61.7 years.
It was equally clear that the fund created to bankroll that promise was to be, conceptually, as inviolable as the "lock box" proposed by Al Gore and the exclusive masculinity of membership in the Augusta National Golf Club.
What later transpired was a welcome extension of the American life span (to somewhere around my present 77-plus years), an ambitious-cum-reckless expansion of benefits and - most regrettably - the rape and pillage of the so-called "fund," which now has about the same credibility as Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster and the dog who cried "Woof!"
Over the years, pandering politicians have abandoned actuarial realities, population projections and basic business sense to festoon the Christmas tree which Social Security has become with ornamental promises unsupported by fiscal soundness.
Specifically, they have borrowed (read embezzled) the money given to them for safekeeping by my generation and its progeny in order to finance current programs of undeniable public and/or special interest appeal.
The money that I, my contemporaries and my grown children trustingly socked away for our retirement years has been frittered away by our irresponsible elected reprehensibles in government, who have all the long-range planning skills of an unattached sailor on leave.
It was (and is still being) spent to plug up deficits and finance luxuries that we enjoy, but can't afford and could, arguably, do without - a self-imposed discipline in our daily lives.
That money is gone, folks, no matter the chatter about our solemn obligation to "keep faith with those who toiled for so many years" and the unthinkability of Uncle Sam reneging on his promises to them.
What could have/should have been a huge stash of loot accumulated to cover future outlays as certain as activities at a fraternity outing has been reduced to a pile of IOUs that will have to be faced by our children, grandchildren and even their begats.
Meanwhile, those responsible for this not-so-grand larceny, the aforementioned elected reprehensibles, have insulated themselves against the pipers-to-be-paid by fashioning their own pension and benefit plans, which make ours look like a Third World bread line.
The remedial options are few, and equally repulsive politically, but painful choices must be made, and thus WILL be made, when the operating deficits can no longer be juggled, the books no longer cooked and the wool no longer pulled over the eyes of us, the people.
Taxes must be raised and/or expenditures slashed and/or benefits reduced and/or retirement age raised in some workable combination. (I regard "privatizing" as a bad joke.)
One other possibility (which may not sit too well with my fellow geezers) would be restoring current benefits to a needs-based criterion, cutting off those of us to whom those monthly checks are about as necessary to survival as our tailbones, appendixes and out-of-style wardrobes.
Some of these choices must be made by the people we will choose come November - people who now focus solely on the options they deplore without identifying those they will, if elected, commit themselves to implement.
They would prefer that we wait to hear their selections until after the elections, thus to avoid exposure to a reality as inescapable as gastric hyperacidity after a bacchanalian orgy.
Are there no legislative doctors among them willing to tell us which remedies (and unpleasant side effects) are right for us?
Social Security hasn't gone under yet, but the most optimistic of experts concede that any light at the end of the tunnel is unquestionably an oncoming juggernaut. Our descendants will remember what they and we do (or don't do) about it!
Joe Klock, Sr. is a freelance writer in Key Largo, FL. E-mail joeklock@aol.com
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