Election 2014 - The Aftermath

There are pundits galore, all over the political universe it seems, who will make meaning out of yesterday's election results. Be careful whom you choose to believe.

I have remained intentionally silent in the run up to this election, privately hoping for the results we observed, but not going public with those aspirations. Putting control of the Senate back into the hands of the Republicans has little to do with their superior agenda, in my opinion. Rather, this election was a stout repudiation of Barack Obama's misguided policies across the whole political waterfront. His much-ballyhooed base seemingly evaporated in this election. The vaunted Democratic election machine ground to an embarrassingly squeaky halt.

We are being told this morning the Democrats need to reinvent themselves in the wake of this stunning defeat for Barack Obama as leader of the party.

He won't see it that way, and in fact one of his aides was quoted this morning in the NY Times as saying exactly that: "He doesn't feel repudiated." And this from a man who boldly declared this election was about ALL his policies, "every single one."

It wasn't that long ago there were cries for the Republicans to reinvent themselves, allegations they were a divided party in search of unity, woefully unable to connect to the American people. Well, times change, people change their views, and the political pendulum swings back and forth. Now it is the Republicans who are trending upward. And that will change someday too.

Not only did Republicans win seven Democratic Senate seats (and counting), lost none, and took control of the Senate, but they did something far more significant for the long term health of the Republic by dislodging Harry Reid (D-NV) as the Senate Majority Leader. He has single-handedly and heavy-handedly, broken the Senate rules repeatedly to make new rules to suit his own political needs.

This morning, he sounded like a statesman: “I’d like to congratulate Senator McConnell (R-KY), who will be the new Senate Majority Leader. The message from voters is clear: they want us to work together. I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class.”

Based on what Harry Reid has done for the middle class over the last six years, no one should be holding their breath that Harry Reid will ever become anything but the obstructionist he has always been. But hope springs eternal, I suppose. History, I predict, will judge Harry Reid harshly as the author of chaos and divisiveness in the legislative process these last six years. I hope Republicans will model true leadership better, now that the reins are in their hands. I am, and will always be, optimistic about the future of America.

In addition, the Republicans added more governorships throughout the country. Democrats won only one and lost four, including bluer than blue Maryland. Even Illinois added a Republican governor! In the House, Democrats lost at least eight seats, probably more when the final results are in. There are now more House Republicans on Capitol Hill than have been seated since World War II.

Mia Love's family

Several firsts in the House include the election of Mia Love (R-UT), the first black Republican conservative woman, who is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is an historic "first" worth celebrating, and the citizens of the 4th Utah Congressional District are to be congratulated for their foresight.

Orrin Hatch (R-UT) finally is realizing his dream to become the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and as an added bonus he will be named the President Pro Tempore, now fourth in line to the presidency and the recipient of his own Secret Service security detail. For the uninitiated, that office is provided for in the Constitution (yes, we are still governed by it), and is the senior Senator in the majority party who sits (ceremoniously) in the seat of the President of the Senate, who is the Vice President, when the Vice President is not there (which is nearly always never).

There’s no reason to gloat this morning. You couldn't fairly call it a "wave" election. But it could be accurately characterized as the election where Democrats suffered worse than the mid-terms four years ago in 2010.

I hope I'm not stretching too far to think this might just be the end of the liberal progressive Democratic governance and all of Washington's gross spending excesses. My fear is that Republicans have been prone in the past to be the all too willing collaborators for the spending orgy.

Let's hope for some responsible budget setting governance to replace what we've witnessed in the last six years.

Time to Gore the Sacred Cows

In the financial world of Medicare and Social Security, things just got worse. There's plenty of denial to go around, and no one is willing, it seems, to step up and admit the obvious. There was a report released yesterday by the trustees, heightening the necessity for Congress to rejigger the massive entitlement programs.

The future, long deferred by lawmakers, has apparently arrived at the doorstep. The problems are us -- the baby-boomers. We're all retiring and the taxes collected to support the programs are in a prolonged pattern of weakness -- call it life support if you wish. The bad news couldn't come at a better time for serious reformers, and a worse time for the kick-the-can-down-the-road crowd.

The trustees of Medicare now project it will run out of money in 2024. That's been accelerated by five years earlier than last year's estimate. Social Security trust funds will be drained in 2036, one year earlier than the last estimate. Trust funds? More accurately IOUs to the Treasury, since there are no fungible assets left in the trust fund. The reality? When the trust fund balances finally reach zero, there's only one solution -- collect enough money in current payroll taxes to pay only partial benefits, the report said. Not a rosy future. Of course, not many of us are concerned today because we won't live that long. It's our children and grandchildren who will suffer.

I say "suffer" advisedly, since perhaps the alternative view is they will finally be freed from the obligation of funding entitlements in the welfare state.

Here's the projection in the report for next year: After going two years with no cost-of-living increase in Social Security payments, the trustees are projecting a 0.7 percent increase for next year. Big WHOOP. That will get nullified by higher Medicare Part B premiums.

Here's a comment from Captain Obvious: "There can no longer be any doubt or denial: Our nation's Medicare and Social Security programs are unsustainable and will run out of money sooner than expected," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. These guys are the geniuses who have supervised the debacle. McConnell is an echo chamber for Americans, who said when recently polled that 47 percent were opposed to raising the debt ceiling. Can he be trusted to lead the Senate in executing on the will of  the people? I have much more confidence in Speaker John Boehner on the House side if his rhetoric can be matched with deeds. Said Boehner: “I’ve talked to the President all year, privately-- about the fact that we were not going to increase the debt limit without serious changes. I mean, this conversation has been going on for quite a while. I’ve offered to the President, I’ve said, ‘Mr. President, come on, you and I, let’s lock arms and we’ll jump out of the boat together.’ I’m serious about dealing with this, and I hope he’s just as serious. No gimmicks. No automatic claw backs. I’ve had it with all of that. We know what needs to be done. Let’s just do it.” Even Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chair is sounding realistic: "Both parties messed this up. This is not a Republican-created problem or a Democrat-related problem. It's both parties and we've got to face up to that if we're going to get this situation under control." Now you're talking like men rather than boys. Keep it up, please.

The backdrop to this latest disclosure yesterday is the negotiation, more aptly, the political theater being played out between Congress and the Obama administration. They are "negotiating" proposals to change Medicare and other benefit programs as the looming request by the administration for an increase in the debt ceiling grows more urgent. That ceiling will be bumped up against sometime Monday. We're at $14.3 trillion in debt right now, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is claiming the sky is falling on the government's ability to service the debt on outstanding bonds.

Poppycock. The Treasury takes in 10 times what it needs to service the interest payments. Holders of the low-interest rate bonds for the moment still believe they will be paid. That could change if Congress doesn't begin acting like it is serious in cutting spending. It's a matter of prioritizing the spending, meaning making deep cutting decisions the lawmakers are so reluctant to do.

There may be time to put off sweeping changes in how we fund Social Security going forward, but Medicare seems for the moment to be in the cross hairs for reformers.

Here's the deal: If Congress continues to wait and debate, the expiring clock forces America into higher taxes. The other choice is deep cuts to benefits, according to the report. Making critical decisions today on smaller baby steps to get the needed changes made today, gives a longer ramp to run on for future retirees in the next generation.

Who are these "trustees" you ask? Charles P. Blahous III and Robert D. Reischauer. No one you know, but they signed the report with this warning: "The financial shortfalls confronting both Social Security and Medicare are substantial and -- absent legislation to correct them -- quite certain. Elected officials will best serve the interests of the public if financial corrections are enacted at the earliest practicable time."

The only question remaining is this one: Are lawmakers inclined to act on these predictions, or blandly go about the people's business as usual as though there is no impending urgency? The weakened economy with more people out of work for a sustained period of time has added to the problem significantly. With fewer working bees in the hive, paying fewer payroll taxes to support the programs in the short term, the trustees warn the trajectory is quickly turning negative. Medicare is more critical because tax revenues continue to fall in the face of rising health care costs.

Here's their projected fix: Two choices, neither of which is attractive. To put Social Security on a sustainable path for the next 75 years, the trustees recommend an increase in the payroll tax of 2.15 percentage points, OR an immediate and permanent 14 percent cut in benefits. Even more stark are the projections needed to fix the Medicare hospital fund -- an increase in the payroll tax of nearly 1 percentage point, OR a 17 percent cut in benefits. These are not hard math problems. What is needed is the political will to act and act now.

We have a socialist welfare state in America today. The debate should end here and now about whether or not we do. Creeping socialism has nearly engulfed and strangled our national government and what used to be considered a free-market economy. Nearly 55 million retirees, disabled people and children who have lost parents receive Social Security benefits, which average $1,077 monthly. More than 46 million people are covered by Medicare. Just do the simple math. Who says we don't already have a "nanny state?" Both parties have contributed to his current state of affairs because of their willingness to compromise with each other over the years.

Compromise is what got us here. Now we need patriots who will stand on their correct principles of freedom and liberty to lead us out of the wilderness in which we have wandered aimlessly and recklessly in our generation.

The cost of medicine continues to escalate. Medicare has allowed physicians and hospitals to experiment endlessly without restriction on high-tech solutions. People are living longer, and receiving once-complicated procedures such as heart bypass surgery and hip replacements later in life. Those treatments are now routine. Three cheers for life-elongating medicine. But how do we pay for all that charity care? Higher taxes.

The political class has usurped their power and authority from the citizenry. In exchange for all the socialist goodies they have doled out, the electorate perpetuates their longevity in office and rewards them for their largess. Most conservative realists, however, argue the Social Security Trust Fund is nothing more than political myth.

"It is important to note that the actual future costs for Medicare are likely to exceed those shown by the current-law projections in this report," the trustees added. So much for the claims that Obamacare reduces medical costs. Can you say accounting hocus pocus?

Six trustees oversee Social Security and Medicare, in case you wondered. Besides Geithner, Blahous and Reischauer, the others are Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue.

Question: Are the trustees trustworthy?

Bigger Question: Are the elected representatives of the people awake and on task in overseeing the trustees?