Are we ready for honest politicians?

Recently I saw pollster Frank Luntz on Fox News’s Sean Hannity show. Mr. Luntz answered a question from Mr. Hannity by saying “What Americans want most from their political leaders is the truth.” Mr. Luntz continued by saying “Americans want politicians that say what they mean and mean what they say”. I am not sure I believe this when politicians begin talking about entitlement programs.
In 2005 President George W. Bush warned of shortfalls looming in the coming years for the Social Security program. His plan to privatize Social security was met with scorn and disbelief. Many Democrats stated the President was crying wolf and there really was no problem with Social Security. When they managed to convince the public there was no problem with Social Security Bush’s goal of privatization became unattainable. President Bush learned a lesson many politicians already new; Entitlements are the third rail of politics. In other words any attempt to change the system could lead to the abrupt end of political careers.
In 2005 then Senate minority leader Harry Reid went so far as to claim “Social Security and Medicare are on sound financial footing for decades to come.” In fact Reid claimed the Republicans were trying to take Social Security away from senior citizens. I do not remember any politicians arguing to loudly against Senator Reid, after all who wants to be known as the evil person that would deny the elderly their benefits.
Lately some Democrats have contemplated expanding Medicare to cover people age 55 to 65. This plan would add approximately 35 million people to the Medicare plan. House speaker Nancy Pelosi is just one of many people that approve of this plan.
The truth is Medicare is a program that is unsustainable. In May, as they do every year, the trustees for Social Security and Medicare issued their annual report regarding the programs solvency. The trustees report the Medicare program will exhaust all of its funds by 2017 (1). In 2008 there were 45 million people enrolled in Medicare which had a cost of $386 billion. It is projected that by the year 2030 there will be 78 million people in the Medicare program and over the next 75 years Medicare represents an unfunded liability of $85.6 trillion (2). This is the estimate before adding 35 million people aged 55 to 64 to the program. President Bush had the right idea about privatizing; he just chose the wrong program to reform.
Many Americans refuse to listen to the truth about Medicare. We threaten the politicians, by virtue of our vote, when they tell us everything really is not o.k… What politician would risk their job by being honest with the public when it is far easier to just tell us what we want to hear?
The truth is not until the American public prepares itself for the truth and then demands honesty from the politicians will anything improve.

(1)www.Washington examiner.com/opinion/The-gathering-storm-on-social-security and-medicare-44970857.html
(2)www.dallasfed.org/news/speeches/fisher/2008/fs080528.cfm#top

Carl Goodson lives in Clute, TX a suburb of Houston. Carl can be contacted at conservativeCarl@gmail.com OR conservativeCarl.blogspot.com.