My Kingdom for a Horse

"For want of a Nail the Shoe was lost; for want of a Shoe the Horse was lost; and for want of a Horse the Rider was lost; being overtaken and slain by the Enemy, all for want of Care about a Horse-shoe Nail." Benjamin Franklin

Sooooo .... the United States did not topple over the fiscal cliff. The question is whether landing will be soft. It seems extremely doubtful, as economic growth will be affected at a crucial time. There are three more precipices coming, so, don't be too quick to exhale. (As a shameful aside people all along the East Coast, who suffered the effects of Hurricane Sandy, will continue to have to wait for relief.)

As everyone knows a principal area of concern, for me, has been Social Security and the myths surrounding it. Now there is a new worry that ongoing payroll tax relief could be exploited -- it could become a stick with which to beat the old Social Security horse some more. As Social Security inevitably declines we hear echoes of the death knell. The critics will have right on their side; Social Security will not work the way it did in Franklin Roosevelt's day.   

Privatization is an unpalatable alternative. So what is left is to reform Social Security, so monies taxpayers put into it are guaranteed. The Trust, itself, should not the government's lender. The Trust's investments should yield returns, and monies rolled back into it. The Trust should 'own' real securities, not bonds that represent debt, rather than having potential liquidity. Then, the money we put in would grow and would return to us, not in ever-decreasing amounts for an ever-decreasing number of (older and older) people. Next a truer measure of increases in the cost of living should be sought, and the impact of inflation, anticipated long term.

Ah, but that would require taxpayers and voters to demand better. We'd have to elect representatives, who have some concern for the needs of citizens, other than the very wealthy. 

Whether Mr. Boehner will be his party's new pariah and whether his long career will survive the blow, remains to be seen.  The new body politic may yet reject the vicious partisan politics, nasty infighting, and ineffectual representation we've seen in 2012. Hope springs eternal!