Vote for the Adult in the Room

I went to see Gary Johnson speak in Cincinnati last night. He addressed the looming entitlement crisis head on:  Reform is non-optional; doing nothing is not an option.  If we do nothing, the programs are already on track to bankrupt themselves very soon; if we continue doing nothing, then they’ll bankrupt the rest of the government as well.

(According to the programs’ trustees’ own numbers, Social Security will be bankrupt by 2019 or 2034, depending on how you count it; Medicare by 2028, “two years earlier than projected in last year’s report”.)

Meanwhile one major party’s nominee for president was the most anti-reform candidate in an extremely crowded primary field, and the other major party’s nominee is even worse on the issue.  Their answer to one of the biggest problems threatening our nation is to stick their heads in the sand.

Look, I disagree with Johnson on a lot of things.  I disliked nearly everything he said about foreign policy last night, for example (and I disliked the fact that his audience seemed to cheer loudest when he talked about legalizing marijuana).  But among these three contenders, he’s starting to seem like the only adult in the room.

He also talked intelligently about the virtues of free markets and health-care reform.

Advanced-level bonus points:  He also managed to mention that we should repeal the Seventeenth Amendment.