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Return to Article: Entitlement programs put growing pressure on the budget

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  Dan - You seem to think that SS is bad and that anyone collecting it is stealing from you, personally. But, remember, this is the same SS that your mother is/will be collecting. It sounds like you want her to either live in your basement or a cardboard box for the rest of her life. Nice.

  Michelle Posted July 9, 2009 10:43 AM
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  Of course the media was anti bush when he tried to do the right thing about reforming SS. So the dem's fix is to spend even more on illegal entitlements and make the matter worse. 1 of the provisions of the cap and tax bill is the added energy costs will be offset to SS recipients either by increasing their SS payments making matters worse or allow SS to tax the general fund. The background music for this congress should be "who brought in the clowns'

  dan m ketter Posted July 6, 2009 10:35 PM
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  "The issue with Social Security is that the government keeps taking the money from it and putting it in the general fund, instead of where it belongs."

  Well, that's part of the problem. The other problem is that it is similar to a giant Ponzi scheme, in which the amount being paid out and due to be paid out is unsustainable due to the amount taken in. The very first person who collected a Social Security paycheck paid into the system with only the last two paychecks of her career and then collected Social Security for the rest of her life. This is what happens when so many have collected and will continue to collect that much more out of the system than they ever paid into it. Same thing with Medicare. But the other point about the government squandering the money is also true and only multiplies the problem.

  Name Withheld Posted July 6, 2009 5:44 PM
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  I no longer fear the demise of Social Security. I recently attended the Association for Training and Development 2009 Conference where I learned that the net-gens/Millennials/Gen Y/Quarterlifers -- whatever you want to call them -- are the biggest demo graph, even bigger than Baby Boomers. Good news -- there are plenty of them to save Social Security! I am not so sure about Medicare, but there hasn't been nearly the hype surrounding it, so maybe the changes will be less politically motivated.

  Karol Taylor Posted July 6, 2009 3:53 PM
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  Mark...I agree Drs ask for many tests when most likely they are not warranted and this practice could be reduced if Congress would pass meaningful tort reform. One of the reasons Drs ask for so many tests is that there are so many lawyers out there just waiting to sue them into oblivion. Medical care is not 100% reliable. There is always a certain percentage of the patient population that will react negatively to any treatment. Of course asking Congress to pass any legislation that negatively affects the legal profession is hopeless.

  Jeff Posted July 6, 2009 1:17 PM
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  Dan, It might be true that you living 2500 miles away from Washington doesn't make you as smart as the people there. First of all, Social Security is not in debt or bankrupt. Social Security has a surplus, believe it or not. The issue with Social Security is that the government keeps taking the money from it and putting it in the general fund, instead of where it belongs. If the Federal Government didn't take the Social Security Money, the debt of the US Government would be much larger. All of us pay Medicare and it is extremely costly. That is because every time a patient sees their Doctor, they're referred to more tests and specialists. It's crazy.

  Mark Posted July 6, 2009 12:32 PM
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  Mr Obama is just finding out that it is much easier to "run for President" than to "be President". He's learning that for every knob you turn here it requires 10 other knobs to be turned. The federal government can't even pass its own operating budget and to have it run the nation's health care system is a disaster in the making. This isn't a Republican or Democrat thing, it's simply a political thing. There is no way all these entitlement programs can continue to be funded at these levels and creating another major entitlement program is certainly not the answer. The fiscal irresponsibility of our elected "leaders" is apalling and America is getting exactly what it asked for.

  Jeff Posted July 6, 2009 12:15 PM
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  This economy and government will eventually collapse due to the problems with fiscal policies. This is what happens with every single government in which elected officials have power to spend money that does not come out of their own pockets, and the ability to continue to push problems away for future representatives and future generations to deal with. And one of the most popular ways of dealing with our debt and out-of-control spending - printing more money - will end up turning the dollar into the peso. Anyone who thinks the resiliance of our republic is enough to withstand this eventual collapse is extremely naive. It's not a question of "if", it's a question of "when".

  Name Withheld Posted July 6, 2009 12:14 PM
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  Living 2,500 miles away from Washington, DC, I know I am not as smart as the "brilliant" people that our currently running the federal government. So someone please help me understand:

  Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are all run by the federal government. Each of these programs are broke with billions and billions of dollars in deficit. This administration's solution to this crisis is to create another government run Health Care program to fix the broken government programs. Did I get that right?

  Is there some sort of drug that all Washington insiders take that gives them a false sense of reality? And will all Americans be force to take this pychodelic drug under the new health plan?

  As an average American and taxpayer, I think this is all CRAP!

  Dan Posted July 6, 2009 10:02 AM
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  Entitlement programs have been, and will always be, the biggest, most out of control components of the federal budget. Until Congress, the President, and the American people realize that there is no such thing as a free lunch, spending for these programs will continue to spiral out of control, to the detriment of our economy, and the future of the United States.

  Just Saying Posted July 6, 2009 9:43 AM
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  With my 36 years in government budget, there has been a joke that goes around all the time when things don't make sense, and who would know better than the huge number of professionals paying the government's bills, funding programs, etc., but the budget and financial personnel? No one. The joke or comment if you want to call it that is, "It is a good thing the government is not in business, we would go bankrupt!" Isn't that what we are doing?

  WIN WIN Posted July 6, 2009 8:27 AM
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  This is a good article, but I think if the various news media and articles would put more emphasis on what the assumptions used in the calculations were, we would get a better picture of how really, really STUPID some of those planners (both CBO and OMB) are. Anyone who uses best-case scenario for his calculations is headed for bankruptcy, and both offices use what they consider best-case scenarios for their projections. I suspect if the public knew what the worst-case scenarios show for our future, the 'things are great' projections might not be used quite as much.

  Larry R. Doane Posted July 3, 2009 8:30 AM