This we do know, unless the items on auto-pilot get the axe, Medicaid, medicare, SS and food stamps etc. by at least forty percent we still have the problem of turning into Greece in less than ten years.
Auto-pilot: Spoken of often by elected representatives to indicate those items funded by government that are legally on the books and cannot by law be deviated from without changing the law, such as mentioned above, the big four, welfare payments in general and then the big three, SS, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Until the big four are dealt with we will continue to enjoy the deficit rising each and every year not by the false number of 1.3 Trillion with a T, but the far more realistic number of 6 to 7 Trillion with a T. Which is why the overall debt, is not 16 Trillion, but more on the order of 80 to 220 trillion when all of the promises of government are lumped into one pot, and depending on whom you talk to.
You can fool some of the people some of the time, but there comes a time when the majority start getting the message. That is when things are going to get very very interesting. Can we survive? Can we get it right, again? Will Congress act? It is like one of those 1940’s and fifties serials. What will happen next week to save the day?
Oh, and by the way, wasn’t Obamacare “paid for” by cutting waste, fraud and abuse already?
Was there some committee set up to oversee that? Are we reading news items about the billions being saved as a result? How many times are they going to claim the same savings for the same “waste, fraud and abuse”?
Or maybe they’re counting healthcare costs as “waste” if you’re too old, not the right skin color, immigrant status, religion, party affiliation, etc.
Law? What law? We're in a post legal environment.
The sequestration law specifically exempts Medicaid, CHIP, Social Security benefits, TANF, etc.
In the law, Congress outlined healthcare related accounts that would be exempt from these cuts. The exemptions include:
All programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs
Grants to States for Medicaid
Children’s Health Insurance Fund
Non‐defense unobligated balances
Black Lung Disability Trust Fund Refinancing
Medical Facilities Guarantee and Loan Fund
Payment to Department of Defense Medicare‐Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund
Payments to Health Care Trust Funds
Payment to Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund
Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund
Vaccine Injury Compensation
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Trust Fund
Black Lung Disability Trust Fund
Department of Defense Medicare‐Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Fund
Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund
Retirement Pay and Medical Benefits for Commissioned Officers, Public Health Service