We need solutions, not sound bites

"We think of America as a place where every generation is doing better, but we're looking at a period when the median family is in worse shape than it was in the late 1990s," according to economist Lawrence Katz (New York Times, Sept. 13).

Last Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau noted more Americans are living below the poverty level, the highest in the 52 years the bureau has been reporting poverty.

We are now living in one of the most significant transformations in our history where the Internet has changed our way of living and relating to one another worldwide; and we should no longer settle for glib answers from politicians to the problems our nation faces. Our public and private institutions, which served us well in the 20th century, are unable to keep pace with change.

Yet, our politicians keep giving us catchy sound bites, and we let them instead of offering solutions to our nation's problems. The latest dodge is Social Security, and we need to have a conversation about that.

While politicians complain about Social Security, none seems to take the time to have an understanding of the original purpose of the program, the problem it was designed to solve and how it manifests itself in today's information era. They don't seem to see that America is facing some of the same problems as in 1935 when the Social Security Act was passed.

During the 1930s, there was the Depression, businesses collapsed, banks failed, there was a lack of jobs and growing poverty. The Act was meant to help the economy by helping the unemployed, the elderly, the disabled and widows provide and care for their children — it was a family policy. It reflected the value found in the preamble of the Constitution to "promote the general welfare."

Our nation needs bold leaders who put country first by taking the time to see and understand how our world has changed and offer solutions in keeping with our common values. Problems and solutions may change but our values must not. We now find politicians lacking vision and courage, who tend to give patchwork fixes to programs and our institutions, instead of determining whether they serve a public purpose or should be eliminated. Many of those politicians are often the same ones who complain about big government.

As citizens, we also must share some of the responsibility for our outdated government. We have become complacent and satisfied with politicians giving bumper sticker answers without demanding they tell us what they mean — cut spending, but never tell us where; create jobs, without telling us how; save social security, and the only answer is we need to have a conversation about it.