Posted on 05/13/2011 12:08:22 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Caught in the sluggish recovery from the last recession, Social Security and Medicare face an increasingly dismal fiscal future, the federal government reported Friday in its annual review of the two mammoth entitlement programs.
Medicare, which now provides health insurance to some 47 million elderly and disabled Americans, could begin running a deficit in 2024, five years earlier than projected last year.
And Social Security, which last year began paying out more in benefits than it collected in taxes, now faces insolvency in 2036, compared to 2037 in last year’s projections.
Over the years, the Social Security and Medicare trustees have produced widely varying assessments of the financial health of the two programs, as the nation’s economy has moved through periods of growth and stagnation.
But the latest estimates by the trustees are expected to intensify pressure on both parties in Washington to move forcefully to shore up the two programs.
"We should not wait for the trust funds to be exhausted to make the reforms necessary to protect our current and future retirees," said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who chairs the board of trustees.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Kill it all... do not raise the spending limit... force these criminals to make across the board cuts... do it now... it is our last chance.
LLS
In his case, it’s too connected to see real jail time.
Oh, my! Never heard of that one before. But there is a load of insight in the lyric.
If the money had been left in the Program,and allowed to grow with the normal rate of interest we would have no problem. So it is not the fault of the retiree’s that out money that we had paid in was stolen, it is not our fault the return of 2% has not been sufficient to insure the program, again is due to the bungling, thievery, and mis-managemt of Washington
So, now, Timmy is selling panic to the entitlement crowd (being over 65, I'm one of them). In this sense, he joins Bernanke -- who is demanding that the debt ceiling be raised NOW.
Yet, we all know that, in the absence of raising the debt ceiling, the government can keep running for months on cash flow. Assuming reasonable priorities, debt service, defense needs and even all entitlements are secure for months.
But, for some reason which isn't clear, the administration is signaling panic.
Which leads me to ask: "Is there something we don't know?" Is there cash that is supposed to be there...that isn't? Is there debt which was supposed to have been sold...which wasn't? Are there accounts which were supposed to have been in order...which aren't?
I wonder if we are approaching one of those Moments of Truth...
Yet for decades we’ve been hearing about the insolvencies and people still vote the same idiots in, year after year after year. The ones without the guts to face up to the realities.
The only talk that I have heard on reform does not touch those 55 or older or already on socialist security... I am 56 and I never expect to see a dime. Your government lied to you and stole your money... and they have no way to make good on their promises and they do not care. The only way to fix it is to change it for younger people.
LLS
i didnt bother reading past this drivel...how the hell is it 'solvent' this yr if its currently running a deficit ???
oh thats right, the 'trustfund' hidden in the 'lockbox'...wait, WHAT ???
And neither is it our fault that the system is broke. Kill the ponzi scheme.
This is THE BEST post I’ve seen so far this year! THANK YOU!
Democrats keep repeating this nonsense and the cowardly Republican refuse to challenge it because Democrats then accuse Republicans of putting the nation's debts to China ahead of it's debts to seniors. Yep, I heard Dem's say this.
That's why this is important: A Liberal Democrat explains the why the Social Security Trust Fund is safe
Gee, didn’t see this one coming.
Quit giving billions to illegals, lazy vermin, african aids waste, hamas paliscum and hundreds of billions of others
that have done nothing to earn ANY of OUR money we have paid into this ponzi scheme.
Free hips. Free scooters. Subsidized drugs. Visiting nursing care. The big money is in garden variety entitlements.
OK, so “Social Security is going insolvent” is ABSOLUTELY TRUE when Geithner says it as an argument for raising the debt ceiling, BUT FALSE whenever a Republican says it as part of an argument for reforming it.
The Rats realizing that their bread and butter entitlements really are unsustainable are positioning to blame the needed reforms on BUSH....i.e., if Bush didn’t screw up so bad then Obama could have given us more entitlements...
“Insolvency looms for federal entitlement programs”
Oh thank God. I look forward to the videos of the riots as the inner cities burn.
In the past when Republicans claim entitlements are going insolvent and need reforms Democrats say they don’t and nothing gets done.
These programs are already insolvent.
So Timmy, maybe you could speak to your boss and tell him to stop demagoging Ryan’s plan for trying to fix Medicare and propose an alternative if he has one.
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