WASHINGTON (AP) — The trust fund for Social Security will go broke in 2041 — a year earlier than previously estimated — the trustees reported Wednesday. Trustees also said that Medicare, the giant health care program for the elderly and disabled, faces insolvency in 2020.

Hmm, it appears as if Medicare qualifies as more of a crisis than Social Security (2020 vs. 2041), no? But then why doesn't GW focus on that issue? Could it be that "fixing" SS involves diverting billions to financial service companies whereas fixing Medicare will likely involve taking money away from already bloated healthcare special interests (recall the 3AM Medicare bill passage)?

UPDATE: In today's Washington Post, "The two independent trustees overseeing Social Security and Medicare broke with the Bush administration's trustees yesterday, saying Medicare's financial problems far exceed Social Security's and are in urgent need of attention." Note that Medicare has a $30 trillion unfunded liability (present value over next 75 years) compared to $4 trillion for Social Security.