Just how bad is the news? That’s the question for today’s column.
There’s bad news… and then there’s “bad news”.
One piece of bad news: Social Security is scheduled to go bankrupt in 2032. Well, maybe not exactly bankrupt, but something like it.
That’s one year after I will qualify to start collecting the hundreds of thousands of dollars I paid into it.
Well, maybe not hundreds of thousands. But at least, thousands.
The federal government has known — for 42 years — that, without changes, Social Security would become insolvent. But it’s like the weather. Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. Ditto, Social Security.
For the last 16 years, the cost of Social Security’s retirement program has exceeded its cash income, forcing it to pay benefits in part by using its ‘trust fund’ reserves.
By law, the Social Security retirement program can’t pay out more in benefits than it receives in revenue, once the trust fund is exhausted. As a result, all retirees are projected to be subject to a 24% benefit cut, once we’ve burned through the trust fund.
This particular detail is not at all like the weather. Completely different.
But like I said. There’s bad news… and then there’s “bad news”. Meaning, bad news programs.
The worst news programs, at the moment, appear to be hosted at CBS News.
Back in 2024, the well-established and rather popular CBS news program, “60 Minutes”, aired an interview with presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Turns out the interview was edited, and another presidential candidate, Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit against CBS and its parent company, Paramount, claiming biased and unfair news coverage.
Mr. Trump being, himself, adverse to biased and unfair comments.
Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder at the time, reportedly wanted to settle Trump’s lawsuit in order to pave the way for Paramount’s long-planned $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, which would result in a huge payout for Ms. Redstone. For some unknown reason, Paramount agreed to pay the President $16 million to settle the lawsuit, and also for some unknown reason, the Skydance merger was approved by the Trump administration shortly after the payment.
I mean, really… what’s $16 million compared to an $8 billion merger? Pocket change.
For some unknown reason, however, this bribe — I mean, settlement — led to the resignation of “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens. CBS News President Wendy McMahon announced her exit less than a month later.
Also, for unknown reasons, conservative podcast host Bari Weiss was appointed ‘editor-in-chief’ at CBS News and proceeded to fire many of the News staff, some of whom had been with the company for well over 30 years.
While the network didn’t confirm the number of CBS News employees who were laid off, sources told The Independent it was about 100…
— from Independent.co.uk, October 2025.
Has CBS News lost any viewers as a result of all these shenanigans? Because there’s bad news… and then there’s “bad news”.
If you can believe the news media nowadays, “CBS Mornings” has been averaging a meager 1.8 million viewers — down 13% year over year — while its viewers in the vitally important 25-54 demographic plunged 28%, down to 268,000. The show’s worst quarter ever. (I disagree, however, with the idea that people in the 25-54 age range are “more important” than people in the 55-64 age range. But I’m just a humor columnist, so take that with a grain of salt.)
Reportedly, Fox News finished May 2026 as the undisputed leader of cable news, drawing more total viewers in primetime than MS NOW and CNN put together. Hey, we had to go somewhere.
As weird as it might sound, sometimes rich investors buy a company with the intention to run it into the ground. Sound like that might be what’s happening at CBS News, and Bari Weiss might be just the right person to make it happen.
Everybody has their special talent.
For comparison purposes, here at the Pagosa Daily Post, there’s been, like, one firing in the past 20 years. (Thank goodness it wasn’t me.)
But I cannot in good conscience reveal the number of resignations. Nor am I allowed to.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.