Originally Posted by Riot
The truth of it is that Social Security is fine for a long time, years and years, and doesn't need more than a tweek. So laugh away. Especially at those who have been ginned up to believe otherwise, that's it's some disaster about to befall us, or a secret Ponzi scheme doomed to fail. False.
Now, Medicaid? Deep trouble, because the sharing $$ states are broke. The feds have been carrying the states with stimulus money for this. Medicare? Getting to trouble, but the $500,000 billion taken out with Obamacare for duplicate provider services was a start, and that extended it's life by five or seven years or so.
"Growing entitlements" isn't a problem by itself. Big entitlement programs isn't a problem when you have a country with 330 million people and have alot of people on it. The size isn't a concern. We are not Germany. We have a growing population. That fact that costs are growing isn't the problem, as the systems were designed, and are generally working well, to be rather self-funded. More people = more income into system = more costs.
The problem is that we are reaching the bubble where the "baby boomer" generation is, so that is a financial hurdle we have to get through with Medicare. (By the way, that bubble goes away afterwards. It doesn't keep increasing)
This is at a time of high unemployment, so less cash is being contributed into the system, too.
If the government would simply allow Medicare to bargain Rx costs like private insurers do, that would save trillions over time. And open it up to those 50 and older. That influx of healthier people will be huge.
We have to make health care less expensive. We are the most expensive health care delivery system in the world, it's 1/5 of our economy - most countries it's far less, even if they have nationalized medicine.
Of course, the Republicans won't allow "expanded communistic socialistic national health care OMG!"
I'm not really in favor of raising the age or having a test - everyone paid in, everyone should get that back, even if you have alot of money in your old age. Raising the age for Medicare is a concern now, as they can't find insurance. Nobody else will insure them. Maybe after 2014, when the insurance exchanges are available. But to do it now is just throwing them to the wolves of non-insurance.
Look - these are not impossible problems to surmount. The main setbacks have been the costs of the wars (borrowed) and our massive decrease in revenue (Bush tax cuts - yes, renewed by Obama - money borrowed to keep paying for what they did) Those two things alone are half our debt. We let the Bush tax cuts expire, and our debt is halved in about 10 years, doing nothing else.
Without the above, our debt is very, very manageable, and very low, relative to other first world countries. This isn't even a hard fix - unless you are completely against any increase in revenue, or allowing other people to have security with Medicare, as the Republicans are.
Did you know the Republicans already announced they will not put anybody on the deficit committee that will be in favor of any revenue increases whatsoever? They are already holding the debt ceiling committee, and the automatic triggers, hostage? Already? And just this weekend Cantor sent a letter to his House Republicans telling them to stand strong on no revenue increases, no matter what? Yeah, that will help. Let's have some more Republican "sky is falling!" scenario, so you can privatize more things (Paul Ryan budget - which even saves part of the Obamacare savings, BTW, because they work and are real) and hand off more money to Wall Street.
The elections in Wisconsin are very important today - they do start the 2012 election season. Which way will this country choose to go? The Democratic way, or the Republican way? Reject union-busting, teachers and firefighters as demons, privatizing every last cent - or doing something to help all citzens, to grow this society into something better?
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