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As much as the Democrats are trying to portray reform of Social Security as a veritable Big Bad Wolf out to get Grandma, they were the party hawking Social Security reform in the 1990s to get votes.

So what has changed?

Well, there is the obvious: it is a Republican pushing for reform now. That automatically makes it bad politically. But is there something else at play that is driving the Democrats to take unusual and desperate measures?

Demographics!

The Baby Boomers are retiring. The last thing the Democrats want is a huge voting block grateful to the Republican Party for ensuring that their retirement benefits are safe and sound.

From the Democrat point of view, the Baby Boomers should be grateful to the government, but because of a Democrat, not a Republican! The Democrat Party thrives on dependency: dependency on the government for your job, your health care and your retirement.

Because the Baby Boomers represent an unusually large segment of the population, the party that can gain political favor with them will dominate politics well into the 21^st century. The Democrats are already waging a losing battle in one demographic trend. Losing the Boomers would consign them to minority party status for decades to come.

What we are seeing is a war over the Baby Boomer generation. The sad thing is the Democrats could really not care less about the financial security of this group (or any group) because dependence on the government is what they sell and why they exist.

Consider this: the proposed changes allow for people to remain in the present system with no chance whatsoever. Even though this is precisely the Democrat "plan", the Democrats claim that this is a "trick" and that Wall Street marketing will "lure" people into "dangerous" investments. Once again Democrats claim that people are too stupid to be trusted with their own money, and that their plan, when offered as a choice amounts to a "trick".

Pardon me if I am offended on behalf of intelligent Boomers everywhere. This sounds like the logic of a used car salesman trying to talk you out of going to a new car dealer to get a newer car at the same price as his used car. A "trick"? People will be "lured" into "dangerous" investments? That actually sounds like the Social Security plan! Trick people into thinking it is a retirement fund when it is not sufficient to retire on and the only "funds" are the promise of future taxpayer dollars.

I am confident that the Baby Boomer generation is smart enough to see right through the scare tactics of the Democrats. That is good news for their retirement years, good news for America and great news for the future of the Repbulican Party.

They were the party hawking Social Security reform in the 1990s to get votes.

The Democrat Party thrives on dependency.

What we are seeing is a war over the Baby Boomer generation.

Pardon me if I am offended on behalf of intelligent Boomers everywhere.