I don't usually publish political diatribes here. I feel very powerfully motivated to do so on this occasion, so please pardon the interruption to normal service.
In his State of the Union address (read: stage-managed opportunity to pontificate without rebuttal), President Bush outlined his plan for Social Security. As one analyst on NPR said, Bush's assertion that Social Security will be bankrupt by 2042 was "a gross inexactitude," and now the Government Accountability Office has confirmed that view [PDF] with hard numbers:
If we did nothing until 2042, achieving actuarial balance would require a 30-percent reduction in benefits or a 43-percent increase in payroll taxes. [The full GAQ report is here [PDF].]
Notice that there's no mention here of the system being bankrupt. There's no threat of Social Security disappearing unless something is done. At worst, there will be a reduction in benefits or an increase in taxes. In other words, basic math will need to be invoked: if you want to pay out what you've promised, you need to take in more money; or, maintain your level of income and spend less.
Unfortunately, there's no other way to describe President Bush's statement than this: Bush lied. And not only that, he lied in front of the American people, using the State of the Union as his bully pulpit.
My question is, where is the outrage? Where is the protest? Where are the hordes of Democrats and centrist or sane Republicans clamoring for his head? (It's all very well to protest by not clapping at the State of the Union, Democrats, but it's quite another to let this atrocious untruth slip quietly into the social conscience.) Where are the journalists from all types of media asking why he lied, why he's scare-mongering, why he and his party believes they can get away with it?
You could argue that the Bush administration was mistaken about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. You could argue that they were unfortunate in not capturing Bin Laden to date. But you cannot argue -- under no circumstances can this be defended -- that Bush told the truth in his State of the Union speech.
Bush lied.
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