SOCIAL SECURITY: LOOKING FOR LEADERSHIP

Social Security and how to reform it in the face of the huge consort of aging baby boomers is once again in the news. The government retirement system was the subject of a panel discussion last week at Southeast Missouri State University featuring U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and five other panelists. Bud Knowkler, regional director of the Social Security Administration, said that the number of Americans age 65 or older will double from 35 million to 70 million in the next 30 years.

What is known now, according to the Social Security Administration, are that in the absence of significant reforms:

* In 2014, Social Security tax revenue alone will no longer cover benefits.

* In 2022, the trust fund will begin running a deficit as tax revenue and interest will no longer cover benefits.

* In 2034, the Social Security program would be able to pay about 74 percent of the money owed beneficiaries.

With facts such as these staring us in the face, there can be no doubt of the need for reform. The real question becomes what kind of reform is enacted. And here it is amazing how far and how fast the debate has moved.

For decades, Social Security has been the "third rail" of American politics: touch it and you will die, politically. But facts such as these are changing attitudes, especially among young people who are looking less to government and more to their own resources to finance their later years.

These young people, joined increasingly by all Americans, are ready for bold leadership that will lead us toward a mix of market reforms with the current system, for current beneficiaries. The returns in any market system are so vastly greater that sooner or later they will commend themselves to a majority. Here's hoping that day will be sooner.