From what I've been seeing at the level of television media, outside of Rep. Jan Schakowsky's heroic efforts, the Democratic leadership has been doing an incredibly poor job of inserting the realities of Social Security into the national debate. Those seemingly small facts like how Social Security plays no part in the national deficit and is not an issue for the present day elected officials.
But credit should be given where credit is due and Harry Reid got in a few realistic words on "Meet the Press" today. Hearing a Democrat sounding like a Democrat instead of a member Simpson and Bowles Commission fan club was a high point of this day.
It wasn't many words and David Gregory was no help but those words should be repeated and repeated often by anyone with an interest in their own retirement. It sounded like the Senator was trying to put some security back in Social Security and he need all the help he can get.
Of course the topic was deficit and when David Gregory tried to tie in Social Security as the answer to dealing with the debt problem, Harry Reid stepped up.
SEN. REID: One of the things that always troubles me is, when we start talking about the debt, the first thing people do is run to Social Security. Social Security is a program that works, and it's going to be--it's fully funded for the next 40 years. Stop picking on Social Security. There are a lot places we can go to...
MR. GREGORY: Senator, you're really saying the arithmetic on Social Security works?
SEN. REID: I'm saying the arithmetic on Social Security works. I have no doubt it does. For the next...
MR. GREGORY: It's not in crisis?
SEN. REID: No, it's not in crisis. This is, this is, this is something that's perpetuated by people who don't like government. Social Security is fine. Are there things we can do to improve Social Security? Of course. But don't, don't...
MR. GREGORY: Means testing? Raising the retirement age?
SEN. REID: ...don't--I'm...
MR. GREGORY: Do you agree with either of those?
SEN. REID: I'm not going to go to any of those back-door methods to whack Social Security recipients. I'm not going to do that. We have a lot of things we can do with this debt that's a problem. But one of the places where I'm not going to be part of picking on is Social Security.
Those are some powerful words that are seldom heard beyond progressive bloggers and a few House members on C-SPAN. It is sad to think about how insecure Americans feel about their future, how most young Americans expect to never see any Social Security.
Those words may lose some power after the year of Social Security payroll tax holiday and with the way most politicians have been spinning the budget deficit. Still in all "Meet The Press" shows some impressive ratings and some Americans might have learned something today. Some Americans might feel just a little bit better.
Sometimes it feels good to say thank you to an elected official. Thank you Senator Reid.