Posted on 04/14/2005 1:46:32 PM PDT by babylontoday
By GAO (Government Accounting Office) estimates the "prescription drug benefit" program INCREASED BY 26% IN 2004, all historically accumulated, future spending obligations and committments of the U.S., including SS, Medicare, vet benefits, etc., accumulated throughout U.S. history, since before Roosvelt.
http://www.babylontoday.com/#gao_financial
The prescription drug benefit is the 8.1 trillion dollar portion, of the 13 trillion dollar increase, to a total 43 trillion, of current U.S. future spending obligation. But don't worry, according to the GAO, that only represents a $350,000 obligation per full-time worker in the U.S., SO FAR!
But sadly the following demonstrates that the spending will be much greater than that.
http://www.babylontoday.com/#cbo_drug
This according to the GAO Financial Statement 2004 GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practices) "Fiscal Year 2004 Government Financial Statement". Here is a link with a graph of the CBO's own figures (which, if you don't think they do everything they can to be low, you have a screw loose) for the first 10 years of the prescription drug benefit using Excel Trend Projection to project the numbers forward conservatively into the future.
http://www.babylontoday.com/#cbo_drug
Do you really believe that this is the kind of spending we need in light of our exponentially mounting national debt?
http://www.babylontoday.com/#debt_chart
How long before our generous international creditors (kindness of strangers) decide that they are going to have to be paid higher interest rates in order to be convinced that they should risk extending us credit considering the obvious risk of U.S. default? What would this do to adjustable rate mortgages?
The following Treasury link
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpdodt.htm
demonstrates that foreigners are presently holding 3 trill 185 bill of the current 7 trill 800 bill of our outstanding debt. Today the U.S. requires 1.5 billion dollars worth of foreign capital every single working day, to finance our enormous deficits. When will foreigners get worn out by the spendthrift habits of our politicians and the increasingly obvious inability of the U.S. to ever pay back the loans? When will they tire of being hosed by holding U.S. dollar denominated assets in a rapidly collapsing dollar?
http://tfc-charts.w2d.com/chart/US/M
Look at the chart of U.S. income compared to debt. It is obvious that we cannot service exponential debt with linear income. What if this applied to YOUR household? I'll tell you what. You would be scrambling to take out home, so-called "equity", loans in the fast lane.
http://www.babylontoday.com/#debt_to_income
The Bush Economic Legacy: Temporary tax cuts accompanied by permanent spending increases, followed inevitably by permanent tax increases
Phantom Lord <--- Has long predicted that within a decade the cost of the prescription drug boondoggle will be approaching $1 TRILLION a year.
This is the point where us folks who point to this decidedly non-conservative legacy of George W. Bush get pounced on by partisans, right?
Thanks a lot, Bush - you free-spending, Big Government idiot.
A tax-cut without a spending cut is a future tax increase. Republicans do not care about limited govt anymore. They think they can fool enough Republicans by just cutting taxes without doing a single thing about spending. Their gamble is to generate enough Laffer curve effect by cutting taxes to pay for big govt. It is about time we call the Republican's bluff on this.
I can almost believe that. I'd like to know if the studies that estimate the cost take into account the fact that the demand for prescription drugs will explode once they become "free".
Bush lied, the future generation died.
And the main part of the drug bill doesn't even start until 2007.
To those who holler about HillaryCare: In 5 years you will be complaining about this BushCare financial fiasco. Its cost still hasn't been fully determined, but the price tag keeps going up and up, and the senior citizens are not the major beneficiaries. So who are benefitting? Drug and insurance companies.
I keep saying that, too, but the Bushbots still think his boots need licking on a daily basis.
Ping
I am afraid you are right. We would have been much better off with Gore or Kerry. We will be able to correct that soon and elect Hillary. No more being fooled by the Republicans. They lie, the Democrats don't. Thank God for choices.
Staggering. Please?
The Bushbots are more interested in Republican victory than the future well-being of America. Soon the cost of the prescription drug bill will exceed the dent caused by Osama bin Laden in our economy. And Bush has the nerve to say he will veto any downsizing of his prescription drug plan. So, he will exercise his veto pen only to kill limited govt proposals. Some conservative he is. Most Bushbots are interested in factional fight in Washington and not for the good of the nation. The truly outrageous thing is that Bush totally lied about the numbers. Most economists predicted the bill would cost close to a trillion dollars in 10 years but he twisted the numbers to convince the country it was only 420 billion. I hope we never elect a charlatan like this every again. Plus, 'tis the season of Sarbanes-Oxley, another big govt gift from Bush. The cost of both of these plans is enough to boil my blood.
thelibertarians were predicting this 6months before this bill passed so do anybushbots care to explain why a majority should vote for the small goverment progun tax cutting republicans?
Actually if you had Gore or Kerry proposing these programs we would have Republicans in Congress fighting against them. Bush totally got away with fudging the numbers in his prescription drug plan. If Gore/Kerry did it, we would start impeachment proceedings.
No kidding, any wonder why the market is tanking this year? Nearly every report from public companies acknowledges the massive costs are nose-diving earnings.
And on what basis did Phantom Lord predict the future?
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