It's almost now or never time

The above lined Washington Post piece called "Our Entitlement Paralysis" discusses one part of the pension issue, federal retirement benefits. In both public and private trying to figure out a way to still provide promised benefits yet control costs is becoming more and more of an issue. One of the reasons GM is not as competitive financially as Honda has to do with the amount per car needed to cover pension and medical coverage for retirees. Rather than wait until the company fails which results in retirees losing all or a good portion of their pensions something needs to be done.

While I recommend reading the whole article, this one paragraph makes a point I agree with:

If we were creating Social Security and Medicare today, we'd set different terms. The first baby boomers hitting 60 include George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Diane Sawyer and Susan Sarandon. It's doubtful we'd provide benefits for any of these wealthy people. Indeed, we'd probably be less generous toward many affluent retirees, because we'd question why age alone (not need) should qualify people for government assistance. We'd also note vast changes since 1935 (Social Security's creation) and 1965 (Medicare's):

So, does Congress and the President and Private industry figure out a way to provide services for those who really need them or continue until no one can have them....