Social Security and Medicare Projections: 2009 (America's Bankruptcy - $107 Trillion Debt)

National Center for Policy Analysis ^ | June 11, 2009 | Pamela Villarreal

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

"The good news is this Social Security shortfall might be manageable. While the issues regarding Social Security reform are complex, it is at least possible to imagine how Congress might find, within a $14 trillion economy, ways to wrestle with a $13 trillion unfunded liability. The bad news is that Social Security is the lesser of our entitlement worries. It is but the tip of the unfunded liability iceberg. The much bigger concern is Medicare, a program established in 1965, the same prosperous year that Bill Martin cautioned his Columbia University audience to be wary of complacency and storms on the horizon. ... Please sit tight while I walk you through the math of Medicare. As you may know, the program comes in three parts: Medicare Part A, which covers hospital stays; Medicare B, which covers doctor visits; and Medicare D, the drug benefit that went into effect just 29 months ago. The infinite-horizon present discounted value of the unfunded liability for Medicare A is $34.4 trillion. The unfunded liability of Medicare B is an additional $34 trillion. The shortfall for Medicare D adds another $17.2 trillion. The total? If you wanted to cover the unfunded liability of all three programs today, you would be stuck with an $85.6 trillion bill. That is more than six times as large as the bill for Social Security. It is more than six times the annual output of the entire U.S. economy."---Richard W. Fisher, CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Remarks before the Commonwealth Club of California

Why is it no one will entertain the reality that the Welfare State is a dismal failure threatening to ruin the entire country? How can we still have a President and Congress trying to sweep the country with a health care bill that will expand this debt with Obama's annual trillion dollar deficits?

[se_ohio_young_conservative]

As far as I am concerned. Its over as we know it....

I want to be one of the ones left to put this country back together when it falls apart.

[cranked]

Wait until ObamaCare kicks in...

If it is not passed, not defunded, or whatever....we are beyond screwed, but then again, without even adding in ObamaCare, we are beyond screwed. Social programs ftw =.=

[Jack Hydrazine]

Anything the government says will cost x amount I simply take that figure and multiply it by a minimum of three to a max of six. Some times it goes my times higher than that.

$107 trillion will become at least $321 trillion but I suspect the number will be closer to $750 trillion.

Heck, why not just round that number to an even quadrillion!

[TCH]

These are Ponzi schemes we cannot afford... SO END THEM NOW!

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

You know, I’m leaning more and more towards some disastorous end as well. We’re losing the war...just look at the public schools, colleges, the media, even chruches, republicans, entertainment, and so on and so on.

[se_ohio_young_conservative]

I agree..

I hate it. But we are going to go from super power to somewhere down around Brazil on the food chain.

[SpaceBar]

Brazil will be a global superpower in comparison to where we’re headed. Try more like Suriname.

[jackspyder]

this is scarey

[se_ohio_young_conservative]

How do you go from Super Power status with a surplus to on the verge of collapse in less than 14 years ?

explain

[SpaceBar]

Outright sabotage, treason, graft, corruption. Athens used to be the center of the universe, then Rome, then Paris or London. Washington DC had it’s day in the sun. Tomorrow it may be Beijing. The only thing constant is change.

[kittykat77]

Personally, I’m a little skeptical about NCPA reports. Years ago they were touting everything Chilean: Chilean retirement accounts, Chilean disability accounts, etc, etc. Much of that crapped out.

This is not to imply that Social Security and Medicare are AAA-rated, however.

[tbw2]

For all we know, the unwillingness of doctors to take patients over 65 on Medicare is an intended solution to Social Security, by letting their life expectancy drop.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Well, that figure is accurate, perhaps you need to try the quote below it from Richard Fischer, CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas and his remarks before the Commonwealth Club. David Walker, the former comptroller...you know, head of the GAO, has been sounding off the alarm about unfunded liabilities as well. Those numbers are accurate.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Besides, just follow their sources for the report.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Another point, unlike a lot of people, I can imagine a world without Social Security or Medicare.

[Jukeman]

What is that song? It’s the end of the world as we know it?

[Jukeman]

You are in denial.

[Jukeman]

Yes - I too can imagine a world without social security and medicare. But every time a conservative politician tries to privatize SSC or medicare - they are blasted by the news media, unions, and liberals everywhere. Now look where we are. I am almost 68 years old and I really hurt for the young people. God bless them - I pray for their deliverance from this mess.

[Cottonbay]

bttt