Message is clear, but who's paying attention?

It was at the start of the 1950s that the nation became acutely aware of the population bubble now known as the baby boom. As the decade of World War II ended, schools across the nation had to deal with a crush of first graders. Eight years later, these students pushed out the walls of high schools, resulting in a school-building boom. (Cape Girardeau's current Central High School building is a product of that construction frenzy.)

By the time the baby boomers got to college in the early 1960s, economists, sociologists and politicians were figuring out that this population tsunami would have far-reaching consequences. When Americans born in the 1940s become senior citizens, the experts concluded, they would overburden the nation's health-care systems. It's interesting to note that this realization came just about the same time Medicare -- a national health-insurance program for the elderly -- was put in place. The year was 1965. Little thought was given then to the economic reality of paying medical bills for the elderly in the next millennium.

Medicare is a companion to Social Security. In the 1930s, the aim was to ensure working Americans who hadn't saved for retirement would at least have a little something from the government to live on. And when Medicare came along in the 1960s, the idea was to assist Americans who were unable to afford their medical expenses. Now, most retired workers rely heavily on both programs.

How long has it been since the first dire forecast that both Social Security and Medicare will go broke eventually? Certainly it has been long enough for the politicians to have done something. But what the nation's political leaders have done is authorize study after study showing how future workers wouldn't be able to cover the cost of Social Security and Medicare benefits within the next 15 years or so, and both programs will run out of money in the next 30 or 40 years.

The latest economic update on Social Security and Medicare was, in its own way, good news. Despite the recession of the past year, both funds held up well. Indeed, the dates when both funds will go dry was extended -- a year for Medicare to 2030, and three years for Social Security to 2041.

But the message that time is running out for these programs hasn't changed. "The longer we wait, the more difficult our choices will be in the future," said Paul O'Neill, treasury secretary.

Added Dick Armey, House majority leader: "While the short-term outlook has improved a little, the long-term outlook is still the same. The current program simply cannot sustain the impending wave of retiring baby boomers."

Well said. Is anyone listening?