You in the corner, with your long hair and nose rings, lobbying against privatization! There's no time to waste. Put your pickets and placards down. Hasten, you. Right this very moment, let us all clasp our hands together: the end is nigh.

One whopping year "nigher", if you will: take note of the Bush Administration's latest round of hysterical claptrap regarding the crisis-laden government program that is Social Security, by way of Trustees Foresee an Earlier Insolvency for Social Security, from the New York Times, March 23, 2005:

Beginning in 2017, not 2018 as previously projected, the revenue from Social Security payroll taxes will be less than the benefits the government will be paying out, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said, forcing the government to dip into reserves.

Moreover, those reserves, which have been built up by surpluses and will keep benefits at their normal levels even after payroll taxes are insufficient, will be depleted in 2041, not 2042, as previously anticipated, Mr. Snow said. After 2041, under the new projections, the government could pay only three-quarters of the promised level of benefits.

"The numbers published today leave no question that Social Security reform is needed, and it is needed soon," Mr. Snow said in a message accompanying release of the trustees' report. "Reform of this system, for the sake of our children, grandchildren and the financial future of our country, is a very real and pressing matter."