Many centuries ago, the Jewish scholar Hillel posed a question that is as prescient as any Nostradamus prophecy: “If not now,” he asked, “when?” It's a rhetorical query many of us contemplate during the high holy days, which concluded last month. And after a revealing comment by President Obama's top political aide, it's a question that now haunts Social Security.
 
The remark in question came during last week's debate about fiscal issues on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” In an otherwise forgettable conversation, things became newsworthy when the conversation turned to Obama's position on Social Security reforms. At that point, the president's consigliere, David Axelrod, responded not with a clear position, but instead by trying to halt the conversation.
 
“I’ll tell you what, when you get elected to the United States Senate and sit at that table, we’ll have that discussion,” he told the panel. 
 
When pressed, Axelrod insisted that the election season meant no debate should proceed. “This is not the time, he said. “We’re not going to have that discussion right now.”