Wanted: political courage

Me, last month:

Even this past week, Congress couldn’t vote to slightly slow the growth of Medicaid; where will they ever find the backbone to trim Medicare or Social Security?

Tony Blankley, today:

Neither the British, the Germans, nor the Canadians, nor we have the slightest clue how to maintain funding for the levels of health care their populations assume will be available to them through their retirements. Those politicians who say solve Medicare before Social Security are in effect saying don't solve Social Security. If we don't have the political will to solve the easier problem of Social Security, my advice to boomers as they get older is: Don't get sick.

The whole entitlement debate has re-kindled my affection for term limits. If we had just a handful of Congresspersons who weren’t constantly preoccupied with fundraising and re-election, maybe there would be more courage to talk about unpopular, yet necessary, reforms. I don’t know. Between the Bolton nomination fiasco, Bill Frist’s tease over the “nuclear” option, and a general inability to kick-start debate on entitlement reform, I think the Congressional Republicans are floundering. The only Republican on Capitol Hill with any vigor to push conservative legislation is Tom DeLay, which is why he’s target #1.

Extra: This Beltway Buzz reader echoes my thoughts as does this post on Jackson’s Junction.