‘Tis the season

The great thing about Election Day is that there’s a Day After Election Day, the beginning of a brief, happy season in which partisan rhetoric and posturing gives way to earnest discussion of real issues. This year, it runs from Nov. 4 until the New Hampshire snow is deep and photogenic enough to attract presidential candidates.

A good topic for an earnest discussion during this tiny window of opportunity would be Social Security. The Social Security will self-destruct in 20 years or so when Baby Boomers retire en masse.

Which is why in the recent campaign Republican leadership in Congress made the obligatory bleats about tax cuts and moved on to other matters. And it’s why President Clinton crowded a bit about how he was able to pack all sorts of goodies in the omnibus spending bill while keeping the budget in balance and then quickly changed the subject. America should rejoice at such shreds of decency.

America — at least that portion of it that’s not always running for something — also should engage in some straight talk about an issue that if left unattended will result in unprecedented generational hatred, in either impoverished elderly or bitter wage-earners.

Maybe the retirement age needs to be adjusted, or the payroll tax rates changed, or the benefits means-tested. The degree to which these and other options can be considered fairly and thoughtfully depends upon the degree to the Social Security trust fund is solvent.

There is a group of Americans who need not worry about Social Security — those who do not plan on being around in 2020 and who do not have children or grandchildren with such aspirations. All others should demand some honest answers from those they elect to represent them. And they’d better be quick about it. The Manchester forecast calls for flurries.