We're together on the idea that Kotlikoff rightly pointed out the serious problems we face if we're not careful. He brought up the crazy song and dance about and America going bankrupt so people would put the rant on this thread.
It gets to be a real crock when Freepers take the doom'n'gloom shtick to an extreme with invasions from China. Reminds me of what's happening with natural resources-- an important issue that that global warmers take our focus away from. IMHO Kotlikoff does the same.
First, no way in hell is the US going bankrupt. Second, entitlement programs should, can, and will be cut --all without national bankruptcy. For all the possible benefits that might come about with this silly flatfairwhatever tax caper, there are a lot of other much simpler options; and they don't involve diverting our focus away from the very serious issue of entitlement management.
You seem a lot more certain than I am that entitlements are going to magically straighten themselves out. I see no evidence at all of that and in fact all I've noticed is endless yammering and hand-wringing in Congress about "somethings gotta be done" - while doing nothing.
And it isn't crazy that the payroll w/h for S/S have been taken and spent by our drunken-sailor government and are now merely IOU's that can't be paid. The continual rollover of debt as a solution accomplishes little but adding to government's costs ... and who is it who at some point will have to bear those costs???
I'm certainly not of the persuasion that "debt doesn't matter since it can always be refinanced" into the future. Eventually that fails. So I don't see that trying to find a reasonable solution is taking anything out of focus. There are a lot of eminent economists who believe that also.
I don't take the term "bankrupt" as literally as you seem to, but I certainly see no "simpler options" that can offer the benefits that the FairTax does. And apparently neither does Congress since none have been offered up successfully in several decades (or generations, even). But even if they made a serious attempt to do so it's unlikely they'd be successful without dramatic change - the goodies are just too embedded into the consciousness of too many who do not contribute to the tax rolls - and yet want even more at taxpayer expense.
There's nothing that I find crazy at all about trying to find a solution to the entitlement funding problem to give us some time to find ways to get rid of it completely (hopefully). Boldly stating that "no way in hell is America going bankrupt" is going to change anything. With our manufacturing going away as rapidly as it is and many of our jobs being "outsourced", America has little to say about it unless we make some significant and major changes in how we do things overall. A bit of tinkering with taxation here and there hasn't worked well in almost 100 years and certainly is not likely to do so now. Major changes are on the horizon and I'd prefer to see us make them instead of having hem foist upon us by other countries.
It's time for the FairTax!!!