PRESTOPUNDIT

JOURNALISTS mostly just echo Democrat Party talking points when it comes to Social Security reform. But what really mars their reporting is an inwillingness to do grade school mathematics, so suggests Robert Samuelson:

Journalists echo Democratic criticisms, but that's not balanced or clarifying, because the Democrats, like Bush, aren't acknowledging the unpopular choices posed by an aging baby boom generation. Reporters have to reach independent judgments, but this founders on math phobia ..

the mainstream media mainly ignored the long-term costs [of Medicare]. To confirm that, I reviewed stories in The Post and the New York Times, because these papers influence other media. Their emphasis was on (a) congressional politics, (b) whether Bush's benefit was too stingy and (c) whether the benefit would unduly enrich the drug companies (these last two themes reflected Democratic criticisms [emphasis added]).

Call this journalistic malpractice. Recently both the Times and Post ran front-page stories reporting -- in tones of shock -- that the costs of the Medicare drug benefit were rising rapidly. The stories were misleading; all that had changed about the estimates is that two early years (with little spending) had been dropped and two later years (with lots of spending) had been added. If the media had reported accurately two years ago, there would be no shock today.

The malpractice continues. The disagreeable reality is that the baby boom's sheer weight will sooner or later force cuts in Social Security and Medicare. We ought to be debating them now and giving people warning. But almost everyone has a stake in denial, and the media are complicit. Personal accounts -- like them or not -- don't solve the real problem. If journalists were doing their jobs, everyone would know that.

Posted by Greg Ransom