Next Steps

Now that we have said ‘B’ what is next? One option is to do nothing and maintain the status quo. This course of action enshrines disregard of the Constitution and the rule of law as accepted practice and policy of the federal government. What a wonderful example to set for our children and precedent to set for how to govern. Legislation by whimsy. Sadly, this is essentially what we have now and have had for about a hundred years. And look at the mess we are in. This is the most intellectually bankrupt and thus the easiest course of action and probably what our federal government will take, short of some compelling outside force intervening to the contrary. The second possibility would be to simply disband the patently bankrupt Medicare and Social Security programs at once and let the chips fall where they may. States could pick up the programs if they so chose. While this would be the strictly correct thing to do according to the Constitution, it would ignore the millions of older Americans who have spent their entire adult lives planning and paying (well not really, but that’s another discussion) for their retirement and medical care through these programs. To suddenly drop them like a hot potato would be simply unthinkable. You don’t right a wrong with another wrong. The third option would be to begin a process of phasing out these programs by systematically privatizing portions of them and rolling the other functions to the states. New entrants into the workforce should not be enrolled in these federal programs but rather in the new state-run privatized programs. Workers already enrolled in the federal programs would have their benefits paid as promised, but no new federal commitments would be incurred. Hopefully the states could find better ways to run and fund these programs with some degree of fiscal solvency. It is time to quite throwing good money after bad and start actually following the law. What a concept.