Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman
I was more upset at the fact that these aren't "Entitlement Programs" Like Welfare where people do absolutely nothing and collect a check.
Social Security and Medicaid are programs that people pay into there entire life so when they retire they have them.....to call somebody a Lazy Scum for using them after paying into them was pretty low IMHO
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Yea, and try to tell a red blooded Republican that
their "entitlements" need to be cut to help balance the books
I think a real bi-partisan solution would include steps to reduce fraud and outright waste, but also recognize that many government programs do benefit society as a whole. I'm all for the NEA, National Parks etc...
The danger is in killing too many small (and potentially highly beneficial) programs for political reasons while the real issues are avoided...again for politics.
I think there also is a net benefit from programs like SS that while not super efficient do provide a vital safety net. It's been adjusted in the past to help ensure fiscal health and we're going to see benefit cuts to keep it healthy for the future. Killing it, or diverting a large % of funds into private programs might cause more harm than good.
Medicare/Medicaid are a real conundrum. All these retiring baby boomers are going to demand that the latest and most expensive medical technology is available to keep them alive well past their expiration date. Even today most expenses seem to go towards the end of a persons life. The Health Care Bill certainly didn't fix the problem, but perhaps now can create an atmosphere to really address it. A good start would be to agree on three principals to base legislation on moving forward. Outside of tort reform (<200B savings) and interstate competition I'm not sure the GOP really has any good ideas. These would both help but aren't going to solve the root issues.
And for all those who like to whine about socialization the fact remains we're still completely beholden to corporate interests.
There's certainly room to trim defense spending, but a better policy where we don't get involved in fights we can't win or that don't directly support National interests would be a good start.
A LOT of defense spending goes into the black hole of the defense industry as appropriated by Congress into their districts to win votes rather than by mission need. 20% savings here should be a no brainer.
Perhaps most importantly, we can cut expenses across the board, but tax increases are still going to be required to balance the budget. There really is a ton of money out there which is a product of investment, risk taking and a productive US worker. But it's not in the hands of the poor or middle class.
So you need to raise taxes, cut benefits and eliminate what can be identified as obvious waste. If it were only that simple
-spence
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