Getting Over The Debt

It wouldn't be that hard to put our fiscal house in order, if we actually wanted to tackle entitlements. George Will offers a useful reminder:

In 1935, when Congress enacted Social Security, protracted retirement was a luxury enjoyed by a tiny sliver of the population. Back then, Congress did its arithmetic ruthlessly: When it set the retirement age at 65, the life expectancy of an adult American male was 65. If in 1935 Congress had indexed the retirement age to life expectancy, today's retirement age would be 75.

The boomers will have none of it, I guess. The rest of us won't have much of a choice.