Entitlement spending growing out of control

The Free Press ^ | December 29,2005

[jb6]

When congressional Republicans, a free-spending lot who have helped ratchet up federal spending to record levels, proposed slowing the rate of federal spending growth by a hair, congressional Democrats accused Republicans of wanting to starve the poor and recreate Dickensian England.That scenario, in a nutshell, explains the looming fiscal crisis at all levels of government. The debate is between those who want enormous government and those who want something even bigger than that. Hence, the Associated Press reported this week that "entitlement" spending is growing out of control.

The word "entitlement" itself is a problem. Americans believe they are entitled to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the federal retirement and health-care programs.

Are Americans really entitled to live off of the earnings of other Americans?

No intellectually honest person any longer can claim that these are insurance programs whose benefits are funded by premiums. No, they are funded by taxes, and those taxes don't come close to paying the programs' full cost. As the baby boomers reach retirement years, the entire federal budget is threatened, yet there is close to zero appetite for reining in the spending.

When President Bush proposed modest reforms to Social Security - i.e., personal savings accounts - his opponents hit back good and hard. And keep in mind that the creation of private accounts, beneficial as that idea may be in shifting toward a sounder retirement system, would not have fixed the system's fiscal problems.

Now, according to the AP, the federal budget has topped $2.2 trillion dollars, with nearly half of that coming from these so-called entitlements. Local and state governments are immersed in a major pension crisis, as promises to government retirees exceed the ability of localities to pay for them.

America is starting to suffer from the European disease, which could mean enormous tax increases to fund retiree benefits. The result will be less freedom, less productivity, declining economies and stagnation, more of a massive wealth transfer from young and middle-age workers to a class of government-dependent retirees.

Of course, American lawmakers could get serious about stopping the growth in these benefits. As is typical in government, the best answer is not politically feasible.

[Hank Rearden]

America is starting to suffer from the European disease, which could mean enormous tax increases to fund retiree benefits. The result will be less freedom, less productivity, declining economies and stagnation, more of a massive wealth transfer from young and middle-age workers to a class of government-dependent retirees.

Only if we act like Europussies. I vote for AmericanRevolution 2.0 in that event.

[Tench_Coxe]

I say let them push it to the limit. Alcoholics can't typically recover until they've hit rock bottom.

[Hank Rearden]

I say let them push it to the limit. Alcoholics can't typically recover until they've hit rock bottom.

I agree with you - I'm sick of the "we don't suck as much as they do!" line, when Bushbots tell me I have no choice but to vote for Republicans. I don't vote for Big Stupid Government, period.

Let it break, then find the right people to build it back again, shoving the parasites to the sidelines.

[jb6]

Never going to happen. Those days are gone. Each and every struggling grog will continue to do so in the hope of retiring on the next generation's dime. It'll continue until it collapses from its own diseased weight and not a day earlier.

[technomage]

The word "entitlement" itself is a problem. Americans believe they are entitled to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the federal retirement and health-care programs.

Amazing what using one little word for decades will do.

[meadsjn]

The word "entitlement" itself is a problem. Americans believe they are entitled to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the federal retirement and health-care programs.

Are Americans really entitled to live off of the earnings of other Americans?

Good question. One of my economics professors pointed out that for every seven dollars spent through social programs, six of the dollars was consumed by administrative costs, the cost of bureaucracy. That was 1981. In the past twenty-four years, the dealers cut most likely has grown.

Are those six (or more) bureaucrats really entitled to live off the earning of other Americans for each person helped by such programs?

[jb6]

Over 25% of the American work force work directly for government at some level, federal, state, local.

[meadsjn]

25% is depressing enough for a nationwide stat. In Colorado, I believe the percentage was over 40%.

[Niuhuru]

I don't have any problem supporting the retirement of former hardworkers who have more than contributed. I don't have a problem with supporting people TEMPORARILY out of work.

The problem I have with it are the increasing numbers of people who do not work at all, have never worked, or are increasing the numbers of the underclass who are breeding wantonly and (of course) irresponsibly. They are a class who are parasitic and just taking and demanding more. The people who work are paying through the nose in taxes to support them and therefore have less resources to help their children through an increasingly expensive college education.

It seems our politicians are not students of history. I would prefer that a major crash be somehow averted, like most of my fellow freepers.

[Wiseghy]

Its past time to have a serious discussion about Medicare and Medicaid. These programs are evolving into an abyss of insolvency and a backdoor way into national healthcare.

Medicaid in particular is regulated like crazy, the benefits are amazingly generous and it is growing out of control every year. Yet, many states are only just now figuring out how to REALLY tap into it, so it will soon grow fantastically larger. It is a classic example of a program designed to strengthen state bureaucrats and political graft, while building a totally dependent class of voters.