Ponzi would be jealous.

ITEM: Social Security is a "splendid program," argued the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on January 30. "There is absolutely no reason to believe that Social Security" is going broke, of ever will." Indeed, said the Texas paper: "Social Security always has met its obligations to pay benefits. If you qualify for future benefits, you should not only expect to receive them but demand that you do."

BETWEEN THE LINES: The public, particularly the young, is not that gullible. Indeed, as a poll revealed a few years ago, more young people believe in UFOs than think that Social Security will be able to supply their expected benefits. Little wonder: In just 15 years, benefits will begin to exceed payments, according to Social Security's independent scorekeepers.

There are now only 3.3 workers for every retiree, a steadily dropping proportion. By 2030, there will be two workers per retiree. Representative Clay Shaw (R-Fla.), chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, emphasizes that these "eye-opening demographics matter, because Social Security is not a savings plan, it is a pay-as-you-go system.... As the number of workers supporting each retiree declines, Social Security's finances worsen."

Meanwhile--and this may interest Texans especially--the president is pushing a Social Security plan that would pander to illegal immigrants. Mr. Bush, comments columnist Michelle Malkin, "would allow untold millions of illegal aliens from Mexico to collect full cash benefits for themselves and their families from their home country--without having to work the required number of years that law-abiding American citizens must work to be eligible...."

This scheme, Malkin says, "will siphon off the hard-earned tax dollars of American workers who may never see a dime of their confiscated earnings and fork it over to foreigners guilty of at least four acts of federal law-breaking: crossing the border illegally, working illegally, engaging in tax fraud, and using bogus documents."