Posted on 07/01/2014 7:30:54 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It has been clear for at least a year that the focus of the nation on reducing the federal debt has vanished. The speeches of policymakers, the House and Senate legislative agendas, the content of the nation's debate forums, and the rhetoric of President Obama are all virtually silent on the nation's debt.
You would think that the debt problem had been solved. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the intense, three-year focus on the debt that featured bitter inter-party battles and closing of the federal government while producing several laws that reduced the nation's debt in the short-term, was that almost nothing was achieved that will reduce the long-term debt. At most, the rate at which debt is accumulating was somewhat reduced and the moment of reckoning postponed for a few years.
One thing the struggle did produce was a broad understanding that the two major causes of the long-term debt are the growth of federal health care programs - especially Medicare - and interest on the federal debt.
Between 2010 and 2035, as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, federal medical expenditures will increase by 85 percent to10 percent of GDP or about $2.75 trillion. Meanwhile, primarily because of the growth of health programs, the nation will be forced to borrow huge sums of money, thereby greatly increasing net interest payments on the federal debt. At some point, as the history of excessive borrowing by many nations shows, there will be a crisis.
An important tactical error made by those in the vanguard of the fight against federal debt when they had the nation's attention was to rely primarily on warnings of impending doom as a justification for reducing the debt.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearmarkets.com ...
Sure, the “spending cuts” during the government “partial shutdown” were so scary. Right?
Insanity prevails.
Buy beans, rice, TP, guns and bullets.
Of course we can’t contemplate cutting food stamps and welfare especially to the 11 million illegals which could be used to offset Medicare. Nevermind.
Unneeded government employees and programs are just another form of unemployment insurance benefits funded by the national debt.
And idiots like this writer are even more scary. Wonder where he went to school.
“...The First Focus report, for example, finds that federal spending on children declined from $310 billion to $290 billion “
$300 billion that consumers can spend on products advertised by the media instead of on their children.
The media makes a fortune from it’s “for the children” lie.
Many Americans would question whether these cuts in defense, health care research, and children's programs are wise - especially in view of the fact that expenditures on entitlement programs for the elderly continue to grow unabated.
Framing the debate that way is like saying “Don’t start lifting small weights- benchpress 400 pounds or don’t bother weightlifting at all!”
Like the “comprehensive immigration reform or nothing!” meme it will block any action at all. (And that is the author’s purpose).
All entitlement spending is equally harmful.
CWII Spark Ping
And here’s another: the federal government is essentially selling you [and your children, and theirs, etc] into slavery — after all, the debt is secured against your future tax payments which are non-voluntary on your part.
So how does that make spending cuts “scarier” than continuing to spend?
There is no law that I know of on the Fed’s books that say it is illegal for the them to enslave its citizenry.
Arguably:
AMENDMENT XIII
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
And fear of the lion by federal elected officials - the only ones who can tackle the long-term debt - is keeping pace with spending on entitlements for the elderly. This is a terrible way to run a country.
So-called mandatory spending is consuming two thirds of the budget and most of it is on automatic pilot. We will double the number of Americans over 65 within 20 years as 10,000 baby boomers retire every day.
Defense, medical research, and spending on the young are being cut to fund benefits for the elderly. We are facing the oft-repeated dilemma of the welfare state, i.e., guns versus butter and butter wins every time because it has more constituents. We just have to look at Europe and see our future. Unless we reform the entitlement programs--especially Medicare--we will bankrupt ourselves. It is the biggest driver of our debt.
The point of the article is to frame the debate to negate YOUR valid point.
The choice is not between groups of recipients but between debt and growth.
Maybe a budget is a good place to start.
The spending cuts are being made in the wrong places, e.g., defense.
But the choice is between recipients and growth. Entitlement spending will consume the entire federal budget unless they are reformed. We are consuming our feed corn to keep up with entitlement spending.
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