This Time, It's Different

Carol Platt Liebau | February 26, 2011 4:28 PM

When the Los Angeles Times signs on to efforts to reform government-worker pensions -- in part by (gasp!) requiring workers to contribute more to their own retirement and raising the retirement age -- it's not just a surprise

. It signals the rapid approach of fiscal armageddon.

The linked op/ed actually does a good job at explaining why the current course is unsustainable, and for that reason alone, it's worth a read.

Going forward, one of Republicans' most important challenges will be to explain to the American people why this crisis is real, and why it requires big changes. After all, everyone heard plenty about the "deficit crisis" back in 1992 when Ross Perot was running for President, but (poof!) eight years later (after the tech boom) the government was magically back in surplus, before 9/11.

This time, it's different, and for people to take seriously the reforms being proposed by Republicans, they have to understand why.