The probability of a major Social Security overhaul is now approximately a snowball's chance in Houston. According to polls, the public doesn't believe Social Security is in a crisis or that it needs major overhaul.
The real tragedy here is that the nation has some big domestic problems that need attention right away -- not a fake crisis like Social Security 40 years from now, but two real crises staring us right in the face.
The first involves the gas we're guzzling. Oil prices, already high, will almost certainly resume their upward climb because of the soaring demand at America's gas pumps. And higher oil and gas prices could easily take us back to the dread stagflation of the 1970s. So now's the perfect time for Washington to demand -- or at least give tax incentives for -- cars with more fuel economy. But no one's talking about fuel economy. Everyone's too busy talking about Social Security.
It's the same with health care. Costs are out of control and both Medicare and General Motors are going broke before our very eyes. Now's the ideal time for the federal government to take action. As the nation's biggest medical purchaser -- through Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' benefits, and federal employees' health insurance -- it has the bargaining clout to drive down the costs of pharmaceuticals and private health insurance. But the nation is too busy talking about Social Security.
The White House doesn't want a national discussion about how Washington could make our cars more efficient or reduce health care costs. These would both require a more pro-active government, which would violate conservative ideology. So the White House is talking about Social Security
But this shouldn't stop the rest of us. Instead of playing defense to the White House's offense, Democrats ought to be offering detailed plans to improve fuel economy and control health care costs.
And instead of filling newspapers and airwaves with news about how the White House and Democrats are positioning themselves on the non-crisis of Social Security, the media ought to inform Americans about the dangers these two real and immediate crises pose to the nation.
The biggest danger to a democracy is not the public's failure to pay attention. It's the public's failure to pay attention to the right things.
Robert B. Reich is co-founder of The American Prospect. A version of this column appeared on Marketplace.
