Entitlement woes reminder

The recession isn't just pushing some private companies into the red. It's pushing a massive government entitlement program -- Social Security -- into the red. But while many private-sector enterprises are bound to bounce back once the economy recovers, Social Security, without a fundamental overhaul, will stay on course to long-term fiscal oblivion.

Meanwhile, the downturn has accelerated the system's short-term financial shortfall. As The Associated Press recently reported: "Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s."

This year's applications for retirement benefits are 23 percent higher than last year's, with disability claims up roughly 20 percent. And with Social Security payroll-tax "contributions" from workers and their employers already down due to rising unemployment and stagnant (or worse) salaries, the system's 2009 revenues are falling far short of projections.

Indeed, as grim as the unemployment statistics are, they don't include many Americans who, while not technically unemployed, were forced to "retire" early by the tight job market.

Even when (or is that if?) jobs eventually become more plentiful, Social Security is on track to hit permanent annual deficits in 2016 -- and to go broke in 2037. Medicare is in even worse balance-sheet shape: Its date with bankruptcy destiny is now set for 2017. The relentless demographic trend of an ever-dwindling workers-to-beneficiaries ratio makes this a numbers game we can't win without sweeping reforms of those giant entitlement programs.

Fundamental changes to restore the financial stability of both Social Security and Medicare are long overdue. Yet advocates of massive health care reform, including President Obama, have made their top domestic priority adding another costly federal entitlement to the nation's already-crushing future fiscal obligations.

It's understandable that elected officials, and the voters who choose them, continue to pass the buck on making the difficult decisions needed to save Social Security and Medicare.

But the latest news about Social Security's dismal financial situation provides another reminder that the longer we wait, the tougher those choices will be.