EDITORIAL: Safety nets are fraying, need mending

May 10—How can news described as grim still be considered good?

That's the way it is with the future of Social Security funding.

A recent report issued by members of the Social Security Board of Trustees states that Social Security will be able to continue to meet its obligation to retirees and the disabled until 2035, a year later than previously projected.

At the same time, Medicare won't run out of enough money to meet its obligations until 2036, five years later than trustees estimated just last year.

Those shifting projections, particularly that of Medicare, indicate circumstances are fluid.

It's important to bear in mind that Social Security and Medicare, assuming the projections are accurate, will still have funds to pay benefits after those dates, just not at the current level.

Once Social Security's reserves are exhausted, the agency still would pay benefits, but at a reduced level. That would be 83 percent, according to current projections. That's an improvement over last year's estimated 23 percent.

Once Medicare's reserves are exhausted, it would be able to pay at an estimated reduced level of 89 percent.

The future of these programs raises a deadline issue. Given the programs' roughly 70 million recipients, it ought not be ignored.

Unfortunately, it's become a political football for rival politicians. Given its political combustibility, it's hardly realistic to think Democrats and Republicans will be able to sit down together and work out a compromise solution during this election year, and perhaps longer than the public would hope.

The last time the necessary bipartisanship took place was during the Reagan administration. The president and congressional leaders put together a legislative program that included tax increases and higher eligibility ages.

It seems clear the same approach will be necessary in the future.