assumes

However, that assumes that members of political parties respect the norms of constitutional government and display greater loyalty to the prerogatives of the branches of government in which they serve than their political party.

Dear Liz: A while back, you responded to a letter writer that Social Security’s estimates of the amount a person will receive assumes the person will continue working until they apply for benefits.

That assumes, however, that several embattled Democratic incumbents hang on — which is by no means certain.

The Madisonian structure of our system assumes that there will always be another election.

It also assumes a reliable stock market return over the next 30 years, a variable that’s become much less dependable since Americans started relying on our investment-based system of retirement planning.