Same S***, Different Pundit

"Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein."
-Joe Theismann

Shorter Norman Ornstein: the next President will need to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and he'll need the help of Washington insiders to get that done.

The key initiatives have to come in reforming our large entitlement programs -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- to cope with explosive growth in the number of older people. Change to these programs would mean pain for large numbers of voters.

Yep, same drum, different banger. You're not 'serious' unless you cut the programs that most Americans count on.

You know what, Norm? Social Security is fine. Medicare and Medicaid face problems, but it's because of the explosion in health care costs, not the explosion in older people. The rest of the advanced democracies have solved this problem, while providing health care to everyone. If you were a genius, or even a reasonably smart person, rather than an AEI hack, you'd look across the Atlantic, or even north of the border, and see how different countries are managing this feat.

The question you should be asking is, "how come we're the only country that can't do this?"

But you're an AEI hack, and you're just one more well-paid foot soldier in the WaPo's war on Social Security and Medicare.

Can't ignore your conclusion, Norm:

The change that Washington needs will require the deep deployment of people who know how to move the levers of power from the inside. The presidential bully pulpit is a powerful weapon in a president's arsenal. But it's no substitute for knowing how to get things in Washington.

Yeah, we've noticed. Maybe that's why it's time to cut you guys out of the action.