Likewise, it is wrong to look at the trust fund's balances and conclude that there is plenty of time to act. The trust fund is an accounting construct that bears little or no relation to the long-term fiscal health of the economy as a whole. The economic consequences of borrowing to pay our liabilities under the existing program will bite and bite hard. Waiting until the problem becomes a crisis will entail not just incalculable political pain, but far greater costs. Facts alone apparently will not carry the day.
Political leadership is needed.
Finally, I would like to make a personal observation consistent with what I have just said. It strikes me as possible that enactment of the balanced budget agreement will provide a window of opportunity for Social Security reform, when the issue can be faced not in the context of balancing the budget or deficits, but rather in the context of protecting the system and its present and future beneficiaries. In accordance with the disclosure rules of the U.S. House of Representatives applicable to witnesses, The Committee for Economic Development does not accept federal funds.