Here is a problem you don’t hear the candidates talking much about. And yet it will wreak havoc on our economy. And it will hit most of us in our pocket books for years to come.

The candidates don’t talk about it because most Americans don’t talk about it. Nobody wants to. It is like the subject of cancer when I was a kid. Most people back then said “She’s got, ahem, you know... uhh, C.” If they said that much.

Well most people today will talk about cancer openly. But they won’t talk about Social Security and its problems. They barely mention it to pollsters. They cannot be bothered pestering their congress guys about it. Truth is, people don’t seem to care about it. At least not in sufficient numbers to prompt politicians to do anything about it

To his credit, President Bush talked about it. Urged Congress to do something. Yawwwwwn. Not because the President was boring. It is boring to politicians because it is boring to voters.

Suppose you end up with a lousy credit rating. It will cost you. It will make all your borrowing more expensive.

Suppose you own a company. It has trouble making its loan payments. It falls behind on its bills. Pretty soon lenders will stop lending to it. Or will raise the interest rates on the loans. Suppliers will cut off credit. Or make it more expensive. In other words, lenders will take it out of your company’s hide.