The View from the Couch: The Last Debate

So there was Stephanopoulous, looking prosperous, summoning a random questioner from the let's-go-to-the-tape world asking why Barack Obama doesn't wear an American flag pin. And then George quizzes Obama about his relationship with Bill Ayers. Now there's a trip down memory lane. A bitter trip, more bitter than Obama's folk suffering under the Bush II economic policies. Ayres, the son of a former head of Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, has been a do-gooder in civic projects since his days underground as a Weather person, as has his wife, Bernadine Dohrn. It would have been hard to avoid them, given what Obama was doing in his organizing period in Chicago. The Ayres-Dohrn house was only a few blocks from the University of Chicago, where Obama taught back before he got into public office. He struggled through his answers, adequate as they were, though he should have mentioned who Ayres' father was, told of the work young Ayres did in Chicago, but I mainly thought Obama might score a few points with the audience (which must have been made up of only hard core politically committed people) by attacking Stephanopoulous and his lachrymose sidekick Charlie Gibson, who only seemed to be exercised by some self interest in not seeing the capital gains tax raised. (Gibson did seem to be doing a Bill Buckley, dead this year at 82, imitation, with Gibson's glasses sliding down his nose as he slid down in his seat.) Social Security was raised in that context, when both Hillary and Barack were pledging not to raise taxes on all those working stiffs in the 200 to 250 thousand dollar a year range. Obama still seems to be confused about Social Security, mentioning that fewer workers will be supporting it in the future, as if no one in the SSS has ever noticed that. Actuaries have factored that in for decades. During the Clinton years when the deficit decreased, the year SS would go into the red was pushed out till the 2040s. Now the date is 2032. That is the projected date for when full payments to beneficiaries will exceed revenue and surpluses. If the economy improves there will be further extensions. It is Medicare, health care, that has problems. Luckily, Obama and Clinton will be able to read Teresa Ghilarducci's new book in May, When I'm Sixty-four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save them, which will explain it all to them. In any case, when we have McCain whomever debates, I'm sure some of the same subjects, especially the flag pin, will be revisited.