The best question and the worst answer

My heart swelled with happiness when I saw that somebody in the Democrats' You Tube debate touched upon my favorite issue:

QUESTION: What's the dirtiest little secret in Washington? The U.S. is going broke. With the retirement of the baby boomers, things are only going to get worse. Fed Chairman Bernanke has said Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security need to be radically changed to avoid this crisis, yet everything is business as usual in D.C.
There are two solutions, both of which are politically unpopular: Raise taxes or cut benefits. Which would you choose, and how would you convince the public to support you?

Unfortunately, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson answered:

RICHARDSON: Medicare -- 33 percent of it is diabetes. Let's have major prevention programs, and also ways that we can ensure that we find a cure.

Social Security -- stop raiding the Social Security trust fund. Stop talking about privatization.

And then thirdly, let's look at a universal pension, 401(k) universal pension, that would assure portability for those that want to keep their pensions as they move into other professions.

But what we need is a bipartisan effort. Put this issue aside. If I'm president, I would take this issue and I would say, Republicans, Democrats, within a year, let's find a solution. No politics. This is the safety net of this country.

In case you missed it, Richardson didn't reveal what he would choose. In the modus operandi of most politicians, he ducked the issue by defining what he wouldn't do before slopping on some empty platitudes about "working together." Well, when President Bush tried to address the "dirtiest little secret in Washington" a couple years back, he was slammed at every proposal by the Democrats and the AARP.

But now he wants us to hold hands and make the leap together. How about this: you first.