"Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights." - Thomas Jefferson

A troubling thought has been keeping me awake at night, and the more I think about it, the more it bothers me. It all started a few days ago while I was searching through the U.S. Social Security Administration's 2008 OASDI Trustees Report. The following, with emphasis added, is an excerpt from the introduction of this report:

"The Board of Trustees was established under the Social Security Act to over­see the financial operations of the OASI and DI Trust Funds. The Board is composed of six members. Four members serve by virtue of their positions in the Federal Government: the Secretary of the Treasury, who is the Manag­ing Trustee; the Secretary of Labor; the Secretary of Health and Human Ser­vices; and the Commissioner of Social Security. The other two positions, which are currently vacant, are for members of the public, to be appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate."

As hard as I try, I cannot seem to understand how these two positions could be left completely vacant at such a critically important time, when now more than ever we need visionary leaders to guide us through difficult circumstances and an uncertain future. Who do we expect to look after our best interests if we ourselves will not? And how can we possibly hold politicians accountable for taking trillions of dollars from the Social Security trust fund when we the American people are denied our rightful advocates?

Sources:

U.S. Social Security Administration - 2008 OASDI Trustees Report
(Section I, Introduction)