Best Damn Article on Social Security Yet

by Prof Neil Buchanan of GWU

Just read the whole thing.
The 2009 Social Security Trustees’ Report: Good News Behind the Headlines

I could not agree more with Prof. Buchanan’s conclusion.

While there is some talk of returning to address Social Security’s finances after we fix healthcare costs, it at least appears likely that we will not overreact to the annual trustees’ report by deciding to spend valuable legislative resources on a relatively (or perhaps completely) healthy program while other, more pressing problems languish.

At this point, the best that we can hope is for Congress and the President to focus on bringing healthcare costs back under control. If they can accomplish that, they will not only save Medicare but they will also find that Social Security is a program that – although it must of course be carefully monitored – need not be a legislative priority.

Neil H. Buchanan, J.D. Ph. D. (economics), is an Associate Professor at The George Washington University Law School, where he teaches tax law and policy.