The Washington Pyramid

The Washington Post acknowledges that we have an entitlement problem, and faults Congress for failing to do anything about it.

Defined benefit programs, even when legal, tend to become Ponzi schemes, because companies, and countries, who adopt them become uncompetitive and,like GM and a number of steel companies. A number of companies have had to declare bankruptcy because they couldn't generate enough to meet their obligations to their retirees. Nobody receiving money from social security realizes that it's being paid for by their children. They think of it as an investment, but it only gives a return to some people, those who live a long time. If you don't live that long (my father died at 63) there's no fund for your family.

Maybe it's time that we all admit that we've been swindled and either kill these programs or switch them to defined contribution programs without allowing Congress to "borrow" from the trust fund.