We’ll Have to be Much Better Than This

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It wasn’t surprising that a LA Times reporter colluded last week with members of the White House staff to provide the President the question he would be asked during a press conference. It confirmed what we already know – efforts to keep the public from viewing Joe Biden’s feeble and demented condition have no limits. It would be ridiculous to think this was an isolated ethical lapse. Members of the media have shown they will do whatever it takes to advance the liberal agenda and Democratic control of government.

 

During the November midterm elections, Joe Biden and the Democrats pounded the public with warnings that Republicans want to put Social Security and Medicare “on the chopping block.”  It’s a theme they resurrect during each election cycle. They specifically targeted Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson for his efforts to sound the alarm on the unsustainability of these programs as they are currently structured. Despite his many attempts to clarify that his goal is to save these programs, the lying that is an underpinning of the political playbook on both sides of the aisle continued. It went unchecked by the media.

 

Just months after the midterms, the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report was released. It confirmed that Medicare, the government-sponsored health insurance that covers 65 million older and disabled people, will be unable to pay full benefits by 2031. Social Security, which is funded by a payroll tax on employers and workers to provide a monthly check to 66 million retirees, won’t have enough cash to pay them full benefits by 2033.

 

In political lingo, the required changes become “the chopping block.” We expect lies from politicians. It is the near total absence of the honest, tenacious, investigative journalism our founders envisioned as our protection against government tyranny that poses a far greater threat.

 

Medicare and Social Security are huge programs, making up 2/3 of federal spending. The math doesn’t work.  In 1940, when Social Security was implemented, there were 42 workers for every retiree. Today there are 3, soon to be 2. The options are limited, and they won’t be popular. We can raise the tax, lower the benefit, or raise the retirement age. Ignoring it won’t change the trajectory. Serious investigative journalists committed to the truth should be all over this.

 

We are now in the thick of the cyclical “debt ceiling” battle. Our debt has risen to $31 trillion. We must increase the amount of money we can legally borrow just to pay the interest. The President and politicians talk about this with lofty sounding words like the “full faith and credit of the United States” while pretending there is something honorable in what they are doing to future generations. The Republicans are trying to force a conversation about spending by requiring some commitments in exchange for their support of raising the debt ceiling:

 

• Requiring the return of unspent money that was provided for COVID relief. (The media slants the reporting by calling this “clawing back” unspent COVID funds).

• Increasing work requirements for those on government assistance.

• Ending efforts to provide student loan forgiveness.

• Ending renewable energy tax breaks.

• Limiting discretionary spending increases to1% per year.

 

The Congressional Budget office (CBO) analysis concluded these measures would reduce the federal deficit by $4.8 trillion over a decade. Serious investigative journalists committed to the truth should be all over this.

 

Politicians on both sides of the aisle got us where we are today, and we allowed it. There is nothing laudable about the Republican’s posturing now. Politicians of all stripes have shown us over and over they are concerned with power and re-election. We’ll need term limits to correct this. In the meantime, one must wonder if Americans have become so tolerant of the political lies and dysfunction and the dishonesty of the media because many of us don’t what to deal with the truth ourselves. There will be a heavy price for future generations to pay. If freedom is going to survive, we’ll have to be much better than this.

 

 

 

• A tip for my readers – If you want to experience authentic journalistic integrity, pick up a copy of On Wisconsin Outdoors every other month at Kwik Trips throughout Wisconsin or read it online at onwisconsinoutdoors.com. It’s free! Publisher Dick Ellis (my brother) is dedicated to defending our freedoms and you can count on him to follow the truth wherever it leads. The entire family will enjoy the mix of exceptional outdoor entertainment and hard-hitting editorial content. The May-June issue will be out this coming week.