No less than Paul Krugman is noticing a growing call for "entitlement reform." But now casual talk about the need to "fix" Social Security is creeping back into the discourse. Folks, Social Security is in pretty good shape; it's not clear that there even is a long-run shortfall, and if there is it's a much less pressing problem than many others. The only reason we hear so much about Social Security is that there are powerful political forces that want to kill it, for ideological reasons. I once hoped President Bush had forever poisoned the well on this non-issue (excepting health care costs, which are a big deal). But no- the President still has allies throughout the press corp and Congress in his campaign to cut benefits and raise taxes needlessly. Now hold on, you might say. Name some names! Who's talking all this mess about entitlement programs? Here's a list of them:

• Robert Samuelson
• The Washington Post Editorial Board
• Sens. Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg
• GAO Chief David Walker
• The Concord Coalition
• The Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget
• Tom Friedman
• USA Today

Now, not all these guys have the exact same take on our long-term fiscal problems. But they all agree that Social Security urgently needs "fixing," like our dear President did not so long ago. And they all characterize the problem as a "fiscal" or an "entitlement" problem, when it's most likely only a health care problem. Intentionally or not, these people are making nice with President Bush on one of his most disagreeable causes, and they need to stop.