When the time comes the cap on earnings will simply be increased to where it needs to be to meet expenses. Our national money management is very much like a homeowner who refinances the mortgage periodically to “pull out” the “equity” to be spent…forgetting that the whole purpose of the mortgage is to pay off the house. The day comes when income dries up and the homeowner wants to declare that foreclosure is not “fair.”

The financial ticking bomb of our lifetime is not only the future demands on Social Security, but the impending tragedy that will happen when out children face retirement with no pension plans at all unless they have been disciplined enough to feed privately-owned “plans” through thick and thin, stretches of unemployment, unexpected health care expenses, and the ravages of inflation.

I’m just an old guy blogging, but my suggestion is that we change the name from Social Security to Individual Security. The “social” aspect of the program is neither well understood nor appreciated these days. The notion of taking care of those who don’t for whatever reason care for themselves is no longer in vogue.

Yesterday’s Old Testament reading from Leviticus enjoined the early Hebrews not to cut their crops too closely and to leave the “gleanings” for the poor. (19:9-10)We like to think of the Old Testament as a repository for the harsh, judgemental side of Jehovah, tending to forget that even in the Torah we find guidelines to love one’s neighbor as one’s self (19:18) and “when an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt.” (19:33-34)

These values are not modern. They are timeless. And the federal treasury is being violated in ways that are not on the side of the angels.