The use of the word "crisis" regarding our social security system is important.
The first dictionary definition of the word is : a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, esp. for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.
A later medical definition is: the point in the course of a serious disease at which a decisive change occurs, leading either to recovery or to death.
The implication of the use of the word "crisis" to describe our social security situation is that it is a program that is going to be dead if some dramatic change isn't implemented and that the time for implementing that change (or losing the program) is imminent. It it is poll tested word that the Republicans who have wanted to kill the program since it's inception during the New Deal intentionally use in order to frighten Americans into accepting their proposals ("privitazation") that would actually cause a crisis and the end of social security.
So it is important for Progressives who believe in Social Security to not accept the Republican theme that there is a "crisis" regarding Social Security.
Last week in the Democratic Candidates debate on MSNBC Obama said: "I absolutely agree that Social Security is not in crisis."
But this week in an interview published today in national journal Obama used the phrase again. In a comment intended to be critical of Senator Clinton he said : "You know, Senator Clinton says that she's concerned about Social Security but is not willing to say how she would solve the Social Security crisis, then I think voters aren't going to feel real confident that this is a priority for her."
I agree with paul krugman and so many others on this point. Social Security is one of the most effective and best run programs in our Federal Bureaucracy. It's goal was to guarantee that that our seniors would not have to live out the remainder of their lives in poverty. It has accomplished and continues to accomplish it's goal.
No other federal program (except for perhaps the Internal Revenue Service) is expected to bring in more revenue then it spends. Progressives need to stand up and be proud of Social Security and say this is what we accomplished. We guaranteed that our seniors did not have to eat cat food, we guaranteed that our seniors could have health care and live in dignity and we did it over the opposition of the Republicans who fought us every step of the way.
There is no Social Security Crisis and I wish Senator Obama would stop using that Republican phrase.
update - One of the questions I have heard from Obama supporters is asking why I harp on what might be an accidental slip of the tongue by Obama "who we know supports social security". I don't think it was an accident. I think Obama is very careful in his language, and one of the things I have noticed him doing repeatedly during his brief tenure as a Senator has been to repeat the Republican talking point intentionally, before ultimately voting correctly. We saw this the first moment after the Democrats passed an Iraq War funding resolution that contained a time line for withdrawal. Obama said something like "If Bush vetoes this bill the Democrats will pass a funding bill without a timeline because no one wants to play chicken with the troops. He did it also back when John Kerry first proposed a fillibuster to prevent Alito's confirmation on to the Supreme Court. Obama immediately said the fillibuster would lose and was a bad idea. I actually believe this is Obama's intentional style
sort of an attempt to create a compromise by showing the other side that he understands them by using their language.