It was strange hearing those words from a Democrat. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was on CNBC the other day answering questions, and he actually sounded quite good. He said what the nation needed was 4% economic growth and entitlement reform to counter the huge government debt.
Entitlement reform. As if on cue, reporters told us this: Medicare, Social Security running out of money faster than expected.
The last president to propose major entitlement reform was George W. Bush, and Democrats pounded it into the ground. Could Schultz bring them around? We've seen Democrats spin on a dime when their leaders change positions. So it's entirely possible.
But there are are obstacles in his own party. See, for example, Democrats Must Reject Howard Schultz and His Radical Centrist Ideology, complete with unflattering photo.
The two big walls that would he needs to scale are these. One is the trend toward socialism which is seemingly gaining ground. The other is the powerful Democrat party machine. Regarding that one, Donald Trump was able to overpower the Republican party machine, so maybe Schultz could do the same on his side of the political spectrum.
Anyway, hearing a Democrat talk like that was refreshing. And wouldn't it be amusing to see a Democrat run to the right of Trump?
Meanwhile, there have been some serious suggestions by Republicans on Social Security reform. Chief among them are raising the retirement age, lowering payments to high-income Americans, and changing the way cost of living increases are calculated. Let's hope Congress doesn't let this potential crisis fall into their regular pattern of waiting until the last minute before acting.
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10:34 AM 6/6/2018
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