Issues

Medicare, Social Security and Entitlement Reform

Medicare, Social Security and Entitlement Reform

Unchecked growth of the massive entitlement programs threatens to bankrupt the U.S. Government in the next few years. This could cripple our economy. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security – the three biggest federal programs – are on “auto-pilot” and growing faster than the economy.  Spending on them consumed almost 10% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2010, and is projected to nearly double to almost 20% of GDP by the year 2050.  And while these programs today consume a whopping 55% of the federal budget, they projected to consume 100% of all tax revenue by the year 2050, leaving absolutely nothing for other spending, such as education, infrastructure, or even national defense. Entitlement spending is sure to skyrocket as the Baby Boom generation begins retiring in earnest after 2009.  Ten thousand new retirees join the rolls of the big federal retirement entitlements every single day. Total current unfunded liabilities, or promised benefits owed for Medicare and Social Security, are $7.5 trillion and $37.9 trillion respectively – meaning that we’d have to put that amount in the bank today in order to be able to pay all our future promises.  The critical failing of all of these programs?  They are totally uncapped, with perverse incentives that cause them to expand exponentially.  In our view, the only true path to reform is to greatly increase recipients’ ownership and control.

On This Issue

By Joshua Withrow on February 06, 2012

This Week's Top Ten Items from the Hill, w/ Max Pappas, February 6th, 2012

What’s Happening in Congress – The Top 10 Things You Need to Know this Week, 2/6/2012

By Ted Abram on January 28, 2012

Social Security – Fairness for Young Americans

Democracy and Power 108:  Obfuscation

Wherever politics intrudes upon economic life, political success is readily attained by saying what people like to hear rather than what is demonstrably true. Instead of safeguarding truth and honesty, the state then tends to become a major source of insincerity and mendacity. – Hans F. Sennholz

By Ted Abram on January 07, 2012

Like Nixon - Obama Manipulates Social Security to Buy Votes

Democracy and Power 107:  Counting votes

Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies.
– Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), American Journalist and Author

By Ted Abram on December 07, 2011

Payroll Tax Increase: Political Gamesmanship

Democracy and Power 108:  Obfuscation

Wherever politics intrudes upon economic life, political success is readily attained by saying what people like to hear rather than what is demonstrably true. Instead of safeguarding truth and honesty, the state then tends to become a major source of insincerity and mendacity. – Hans F. Sennholz

By Ted Abram on December 02, 2011

Social Security: Congress and the President Manipulate Workers' Earnings

Democracy and Power 103:  Government money

In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
– Voltaire (1764)

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