Posted on 08/16/2011 12:17:25 PM PDT by SkyPilot
President Obama has again acknowledged the necessity of doing something many Democrats fiercely oppose -- reforming entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Social Security.
On a Midwest bus tour stop in Minnesota, Obama spoke in favor of changes to entitlement programs being eyed by the 12-member congressional committee charged with finding budget savings that will get past partisan gridlock, stave off future credit downgrades and increase the federal debt.
"There have been times when our side, when Democrats aren’t always as flexible as we need to be," Obama said. "Sometimes I do get frustrated when I hear folks say, 'You can't make any changes to any government programs.' Well, that can't be right."
The president has repeatedly conceded that something must be done, saying Medicare in particular cannot survive without reform.
"We will not be able to sustain that program no matter how much taxes go up," he said in late July. "I mean, it's not an option for us to just sit by and do nothing."
In spite of that, just as the president suggested, many Democrats remain steadfastly opposed to any changes in any of the programs. In fact, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi boasted that Democrats had blocked such reforms in the deficit talks.
"We did protect the benefits, the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. That is a priority for us," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Exactly right. Well said. All lies.
I think it is the T word. Triangulation, Clinton signed welfare reform to save his political hide. He may be ready to throw the entire democrat party under the bus again to save his hide.
That’s the program that needs to be cut Obamacare!
Although Social Security reform has received considerable attention in recent years, Medicare is the far-bigger problem. Medicare is growing at a faster rate and has an unfunded liability six times the size of Social Security.
Medicare is also on a spending path that will be difficult to sustain without unprecedented boosts in revenues. The reason: Per capita health care spending over the past half century has been rising at a rate two to three times faster than per capita gross domestic product (GDP). If this trend continues, health care's share of the economy will grow considerably:
• If the growth of real per capita health care spending exceeds the rate of growth of real per capita GDP by 2 percentage points, health care spending will consume almost 80 percent of GDP by 2075.
• Continuation of these past growth rates indefinitely would imply a five-fold increase in health care's share of the economy from present levels, crowding out the consumption of most other goods
Medicare already spends more than it receives in dedicated taxes and premium payments. As baby boomer retirees begin to flood the system, the impact will be felt by every other federal program:
• Currently, Medicare claims about 13 percent of federal nonentitlement tax dollars.
• By 2020, Medicare deficits will claim one in every five federal tax dollars that are not already dedicated to Medicare and Social Security.
• This means that in just 9 years the federal government will have to stop doing one in every five things it does today if taxes are to remain at their current level and projected Medicare benefits are paid on behalf of the disabled and the elderly.
• By 2030, the deficits in Medicare will claim one in every three general revenue dollars; by 2050, they will claim one in every two.
He’s been living off of entitlement programs. And added some of his own on a whim! Get rid of the Czars and trips to spain and africa staying at the most costly of resorts with 50 of their closest friends - weekly parties, etc.
Someone told him to run to the center. But he’s really attacking the elderly.
But he only mentions Social Security and Medicaid, programs which do need to be incrementally reformed, starting with the younger taxpayers but keeping our promises to the already retired and those nearing retirement.
What no one wants to talk about but which is REALLY in need of reform is:
SSI/SSD, SNAP, TANF, Section 8, Free Lunch Program, Medicaid, Universal Connectivity, etc..etc..etc...
It’s the parasites, not the elderly, that are bleeding us to death. I’ll really open my ears if Zero or any politician ever touches this 3rd wheel.
What a lie. He doesn’t mean it for a minute. This is all with a wink-and-a-nod.
And he'd be lying about that, too.
And that is the truth.
Yep. He ran as a conservative the first time - Big Christian, pro-self defense, pro-marriage, lower taxes for the middle class, getting rid of social programs that no longer work.....
He got caught by Joe the plumber, but the media went after Joe instead. The media buried everything he said that may have sounded left wing.
He's trying to pull that trick again, and the media is helping him do it. He's "unique", not left and not right, and all the problems he had during his first term were all everyone elses fault. Why, he wasn't even there! He was just an innocent bystander. If he'd have been in charge, none of this mess would have ever happened!!!
Not only are these freeloaders not sacrificing anything - they're receiving even more. This time, it's free computers and Internet access if a kid gets a free school lunch.
No, it's the slave laborers, the tax payers, who are forced to make the extra bricks.
I'd like to see able-bodied welfare recipients cut off the public teat today - right now - cold turkey. They'll do the jobs "Americans won't do" when they get hungry enough. I think the working class has already sacrificed enough for these scrounges. It's time we kept enough of our own wages to take care of our own families.
No more free rides. Time for them to get their own jobs. The war on poverty, that's gone on now for generations, is a miserable failure.
I think the upcoming economic crash is inevitable. Better to get thru it now than later because a majority of Baby Boomers are still working right now. However, they’ll probably not be able to receive all the benefits they were promised.
Get back the welfare to work program, and take the able-bodied frauds off SS and make them go through the program. Those who have never paid a premium in their life should find another program to leech off of. Other wise, these people will continue to reap everyone elses harvest, and those who faithfully paid will suffer because of it.
That is correct.. However, Obama is no Clinton....
Exactly! My paper told me that Obama was out in the Midwest asking "the people" for their ideas on how to solve America's problems. He's fresh out of any of his own so I don't doubt he'll run with whatever he thinks might work or, at least, sounds good.
Getting excited or ‘wow’’d by this?
Hey, you guys ever heard this one: “Actions speak louder than words”....or maybe this one: “Talk is cheap”.... =.=
I have to agree with you there.
As for the SSI scammers, that is true also. It is a huge racket. Parents know how to get their kids classified as "disabled" for conditions like sleep apnea, heart murmurs, and behavior problems that they convince some doctor to sign off as "autism" even when it isn't autism.
We have 1 in 7 Americans walking around with a Food Stamp (SNAP) ATM card in their back pocket.
When will this madness all stop?
Amazing? Of course Obama wants to go after Social Security and Medicare. His goal is to destroy America. Denying the working folks who paid involuntarily paid into this fund, for all their working career, is a good next step.
SS and Medicare are not entitlements. This is a program all workers, for all their working careers, were forced to pay in to. It was paid separate from other income taxes, and the other taxes we must pay.
When Obama says he will go after Medicaid, welfare, aid to dependent children, foodstamps, housing subsidies, along with host of other UNPAID IN TO social programs, where we know fraud is rampant, then that will be amazing news.
I’m sorry, did you say something?
Good for you.
There are no lies in that chart, just the scary, horrific, bloody facts about taxes vs. spending.
Even Marxists are beginning to realize there is not enough money to "redistribute" - but that does not mean they won't kill us all in their effort to try.
When the whole shebang collapses, or they get their "checks" but hyperinflation has made them worthless, expect the feral spawn to riot, burn, maim, murder, rob, vandalize, and rape.
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