The truth of the matter is that it will be difficult to maintain the current benefits let alone adding millions and millions more Americans to the roles without a major increase in the payroll tax for both employer and employees. Figuring out how to deal with nearly 20 percent of the national economy has to be at the top of any new administration's agenda.

It was in 1992 when newly elected William Jefferson Clinton tapped his wife, Hillary, to come up with a long -range solution. That, as everyone who wasn't living on Mars knows, was a miserable failure. Since then the problem has become considerably worse. Social Security and the health plans are increasingly burdensome and counterproductive to business and individuals and almost as overwhelming to younger Americans.

In the current economic climate, it is irresponsible for any candidate to make promises that he must know he will have difficulty fulfilling. The last thing Americans seem to want to hear about health care is the truth. So neither of the two candidates is willing to tell it or even to admit that his own numbers and solutions are anything but practical. Liars figure.

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E-mail Dan K. Thomasson, former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service, at thomassondan@aol.com.