To the Point

Social Security Crisis

By the time baby boomers are eligible to collect benefits, President Bush says Social Security will be "flat bust bankrupt." Last week, a White House political operative told conservative groups that a crisis in Social Security "needs to be seared into the public consciousness," and today, Vice President Cheney carried the message. While nobody doubts the system will run out of money, the question is when, and what to do now? The White House wants private investment accounts, while Democrats say they-d make things worse. Are Republicans trying to transform the New Deal's most successful social program into a strategy for what they call -individual opportunity?- With TV and newspaper ads running on both sides of the issue, we consider the crisis facing social security with journalists, pollsters and Congressmen on both sides of the aisle. Making News: Federal Judge Rules Anti-Evolution Sticker Illegal The teaching of evolution in public schools may go back on the agenda of higher courts after a federal judge-s ruling today in Atlanta. The case involved stickers in science books in Georgia-s Cobb County schools that read -Evolution is a theory, not a fact.- Kristina Torres, who writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reports that Judge Cooper felt the disclaimer went too far, violating the separation of Church and State. Reporter's Notebook: Photojournalism and the Truth of Photography For the past two weeks, we've been bombarded by wrenching images of tragedy, from the Indian Ocean to La Conchita, California. Before that, it was the Iraq War and awful photos of Abu Ghraib. Are the rights of innocent victims compromised when those pictures are shown? Are the rights of the public compromised if they-re not? News industry veteran Michael Sargent runs editorial operations for Getty Images, which provides -defining images- of sports, entertainment and news events all over the world.