Day: September 27, 2009

Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years, the first time that’s happened since the 1980s.

The deficits — $10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in 2011 — won’t affect payments to retirees because Social Security has accumulated surpluses from previous years totaling $2.5 trillion. But they will add to the overall federal deficit.

Applications for retirement benefits are 23 percent higher than last year, while disability claims have risen by about 20 percent. Social Security officials had expected applications to increase from the growing number of baby boomers reaching retirement, but they didn’t expect the increase to be so large.

The Obama administration may claim the recession is over and offer glowing reports of growth in the housing and financial markets but those messages ring hollow to the millions of Americans out of work and facing a future with little chance for employment.

There are six people seeking jobs for every one that is open. That’s 14.5 million unemployed Americans trying to get hired for 2.4 million jobs.

And companies aren’t ready to start hiring again. With unemployment benefits running out, an increasing number of Americans will lose their homes, their savings and their future.

Unemployment stands at 9.7 percent natiowide. It’s expected to top 10 percent by the end of the year.

For these Americans, the recession is far from over.

Considering the turmoil about how to proceed in Afghanistan, perhaps it is time for the United States to cut its losses and leave this political and military swamp to its own fate. It certainly doesn’t take any genius to understand that current policy is in such disarray that hopes for achieving political stability and long-term defeat of the Taliban are greatly diminished.

The military’s advice to President Barack Obama seems clear enough: Deploy more troops to get the job done in Afghanistan.

Vice President Joe Biden has this to say: Enough is enough. Reduce the number of soldiers fighting the Taliban and go after al-Qaeda.

Inside the White House, there’s a different opinion for nearly every senior staffer.

Obama, who must decide what to do, is reviewing his options. They are poor. He already sent 21,000 more Americans to Afghanistan just six months ago.

We, the public, don’t want to “lose” another war; nor do we want more Americans dying for no purpose. We can be certain the British and Russians, who spent many futile years in that harsh land trying to pacify marauding tribes, do not wish they had stayed longer.