We need a Texan with big ears to show us graphs on TV

Remember Ross Perot? That nutty dwarf captured almost a fifth of the national vote in 1992 by appearing on television and flipping through some charts on the U.S. budget and the national debt. President Bush should take note and highlight this graph from the 2004 report by the Social Security Trustees:


That, and many other relevant graphs, are listed in the report section titled “Projections of future financial status.” And here’s a section from the conclusion of that report:

The projected trust fund deficits should be addressed in a timely way to allow for a gradual phasing in of the necessary changes and to provide advance notice to workers. The sooner adjustments are made the smaller and less abrupt they will have to be.

Sounds perfectly reasonable. Let’s not kick the problem down the road yet again.