In the dreamlike days between Christmas and the regular work week’s return in the new year, it’s easy to believe all things are possible.

Indulge in as much pie as you like—a resolution to eat healthier in 2025 will balance the scales.

For most of us, this is harmless self-deception.

Unfortunately, Congress has the same mentality, and it’s produced a bloated government that soon won’t be able to afford what’s been promised to taxpayers.

Social Security and Medicare have some 10 years left before their trust funds are exhausted and they’ll no longer provide full benefits.

Congress knows the deadline. Every year, a report from the programs’ trustees spells it out.

The latest figures say Social Security will run dry beginning in 2035, with Medicare following suit the next year.

Yet those estimates, from May, are already out of date because the Senate decided to ring out 2024 by passing a proposal that actually makes Social Security less solvent and brings the breakdown a full year closer.

A bipartisan bill taken up in December makes people who already have state, local, or federal government pensions eligible for more Social Security benefits than before.

What the program actually needs, if........

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