Well, one or the other or some of all four has to happen:
1) Federal employees and/or contractors get laid off by the boatload
2) SS checks get shrunk
3) Medicare starts cutting what they pay to the healthcare industry
4) We borrow more and kick the can a few months down the road
So which group or group of groups is going to win over a majority of Congresscritters and which ones will take the big hits ?
A) Federal employees and unions
B) Senior citizens (cut ss payments)
C) The healthcare industry (cut medicare)
D) Too afraid to start large, tough measures to put government back in it’s cage (raise the debt ceiling and borrow more)
Stop SS payments to people who have never paid in, and raise the retirement age another year. Maybe raise the taxable wage ceiling. Transition to private system.
Medicare already only pays doctors 1/3 of the bill, the quickest thing to do would be to stop Obama care. Then, maybe look at Implementing a premium for part A and raise it for part B. Medicare only costs about $100.00 for part B, and part A is free.
Many possibilities. No doubt we will continue to take from the needy and give to the greedy. The working poor and middleclass should get prepared for BOHICA.