The Chief and Social Security

He explained a lot to me.

I asked the chief why Deer Park was so tough on speed limits. His response: "We like to meet people at that level of infraction! If we say 'HI' at that level, we've discovered there are some who will just take their criminal inclinations outside our city. It works."

A very gentle man, very polite, and he staffed the department with well-trained officers, well-disciplined, but very able to be "in charge" when they needed to be. Result: an extremely low crime rate - the word was out: "don't play it out in Deer Park."

Life should always be so direct. Even with Social Security. More and more depend on it as a primary source of retirement income. (Whether that's wise or not is another question.) And for decades, the politics have laid out the script: solve this problem, but at no cost to ME.

1. Say how terrible the problem is financially, and it is my opponent's fault!

2. Replace the incumbent, but NEVER EVER propose the simple fix that would actually eradicate the problem.

3. Stir, shake, and repeat (unless you're the incumbent, in which case blame the new challenger).

I wonder when, in the name of social responsibility, someone will simply say: "We'll balance this with a reduction in benefits and an increase in tax rates until it is solvent." It's clear the demographics have changed, the economic realities have changed, the number of workers per retiree have changed, and the former times will come no more. So, why not fix it now?

Why does it have to be daring to be truthful and accountable? Seems simpler to just do the deed.