Political Crossfire Forums

[leftneckredwing]

No, it's not a music thread. It's a sad and urgent commentary on the state of the fiscal destruction being waged by government on our lives and economy. Our life's blood.

There is an end in sight, but it's not pretty and the Piper will come calling.

Unless, something drastic happens in very short order, we will not be able to pay our bills.

Quote: Demographic Reality and the Entitlement State

November 13, 2006

The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, is an investigative arm of Congress charged with the thankless task of accounting for the money received and spent by the federal government. As you might imagine, people whose spend all day examining the nitty-gritty realities of federal spending and deficits might not share the voters' enthusiasm for grand campaign promises.

David Walker, Comptroller General at GAO, has been on a speaking tour of the U.S recently-- and he pulls no punches when explaining just how precarious our nation's entitlement system really is.

He explains that Social Security and Medicare are headed for a train wreck because of demographic trends and rising health care costs. The number of younger taxpayers for each older retiree will continue to decline. The demand for "free" prescription drugs under Medicare will explode. If present trends continue, by 2040 the entire federal budget will be consumed by Social Security and Medicare. The only options for balancing the budget would be cutting total federal spending by about 60%, or doubling federal taxes.

Furthermore, Walker asserts, we cannot grow our way out of this problem. Faster economic growth can only delay the inevitable hard choices. To close the long-term entitlement gap, the U.S. economy would have to grow by double digits every year for the next 75 years.

In short, Mr. Walker is telling the political class that the status quo cannot be maintained. He is to be commended for his refreshing honesty and unwillingness to provide excuses for the two political parties, the administration, or the even the entitlement-minded American public.

I urge everyone interested to visit the GAO website at www.gao.gov, where you can view a report entitled: "Our Nation's Fiscal Outlook: The Federal Government's Long-Term Budget Imbalance." This report should be required reading for every politician in Washington.

Are ever growing entitlement and military expenditures really consistent with a free country? Do these expenditures, and the resulting deficits, make us more free or less free? Should the government or the marketplace provide medical care? Should younger taxpayers be expected to provide retirement security and health care even for affluent retirees? Should the U.S. military be used to remake whole nations? Are the programs, agencies, and departments funded by Congress each year constitutional? Are they effective? Could they operate with a smaller budget? Would the public even notice if certain programs were eliminated altogether? These are the kinds of questions the American people must ask, even though Congress lacks the courage to do so.

If we hope to avoid a calamitous financial future for our nation, we must address the hardest question of all: What is the proper role for government in our society? The answer to this question will determine how prosperous and free we remain in the decades to come.

We cannot continue to provide money for nothing. It is eating us alive.

[callous]

That happens to be my favorite band of all time.

[Alizard]

leftneckredwing wrote: No, it's not a music thread. It's a sad and urgent commentary on the state of the fiscal destruction being waged by government on our lives and economy. Our life's blood.

There is an end in sight, but it's not pretty and the Piper will come calling.



You're right..... this idiot government is going to spend us into a third world country. And it's hard to make anybody listen when the Reaganomic fans keep chanting:

"Deficits don't matter...."

[Swampfox.f]

leftneckredwing wrote: No, it's not a music thread. It's a sad and urgent commentary on the state of the fiscal destruction being waged by government on our lives and economy. Our life's blood.

There is an end in sight, but it's not pretty and the Piper will come calling.

Unless, something drastic happens in very short order, we will not be able to pay our bills.

Quote: Demographic Reality and the Entitlement State

November 13, 2006

The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, is an investigative arm of Congress charged with the thankless task of accounting for the money received and spent by the federal government. As you might imagine, people whose spend all day examining the nitty-gritty realities of federal spending and deficits might not share the voters' enthusiasm for grand campaign promises.

David Walker, Comptroller General at GAO, has been on a speaking tour of the U.S recently-- and he pulls no punches when explaining just how precarious our nation's entitlement system really is.

He explains that Social Security and Medicare are headed for a train wreck because of demographic trends and rising health care costs. The number of younger taxpayers for each older retiree will continue to decline. The demand for "free" prescription drugs under Medicare will explode. If present trends continue, by 2040 the entire federal budget will be consumed by Social Security and Medicare. The only options for balancing the budget would be cutting total federal spending by about 60%, or doubling federal taxes.

Furthermore, Walker asserts, we cannot grow our way out of this problem. Faster economic growth can only delay the inevitable hard choices. To close the long-term entitlement gap, the U.S. economy would have to grow by double digits every year for the next 75 years.

In short, Mr. Walker is telling the political class that the status quo cannot be maintained. He is to be commended for his refreshing honesty and unwillingness to provide excuses for the two political parties, the administration, or the even the entitlement-minded American public.

I urge everyone interested to visit the GAO website at www.gao.gov, where you can view a report entitled: "Our Nation's Fiscal Outlook: The Federal Government's Long-Term Budget Imbalance." This report should be required reading for every politician in Washington.

Are ever growing entitlement and military expenditures really consistent with a free country? Do these expenditures, and the resulting deficits, make us more free or less free? Should the government or the marketplace provide medical care? Should younger taxpayers be expected to provide retirement security and health care even for affluent retirees? Should the U.S. military be used to remake whole nations? Are the programs, agencies, and departments funded by Congress each year constitutional? Are they effective? Could they operate with a smaller budget? Would the public even notice if certain programs were eliminated altogether? These are the kinds of questions the American people must ask, even though Congress lacks the courage to do so.

If we hope to avoid a calamitous financial future for our nation, we must address the hardest question of all: What is the proper role for government in our society? The answer to this question will determine how prosperous and free we remain in the decades to come.

We cannot continue to provide money for nothing. It is eating us alive.


I read this from Ron Paul and I find it a little misleading. While we have Walker running around selling the idea of un-sustainability we don't have honest discoure about the money the government owes us.

Here is a great look at the Social Security trust issue:

http://www.heritage.org/Research/SocialSecurity/em940.cfm

Here is a look at the growth of debt that the government owes us:

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/STATS/table4a1.html

Why isn't the fact that the government is basicaly stealing our money earmarked for retirement and health benefits not being challenged?

[Eduffy80911]

Okay, for those of you who don't understand, here's how the game is played.

Solving the entitlement problem would be hard work, if not impossible for the politician, that's why it wont be done. The idea is simply not to be the party in power when the whole thing collapses.

You can guage how long that might be from now and plan your political career accordingly.

You will likely see new parties form and/or affiliations change shortly before the proverbial shiite hits the fan.

Financial calamity ensues, the system and maybe our entire system of govt is revamped and the new party or parties, with many of the same cast of characters (crowing that they've been clamoring for reform the whole time) bravely take the reigns and pick up the pieces.

Sometimes staying in power requires fixing a problem, most often it simply requires a creative marketing campaign and managing expectations.

[The Russian]

how about we increase the overall tax, remove the tax cuts applied to big business, and tax big business and investment income accordingly.

show some god damn responcibility for your citizens, not your corporations, corporate welfare is by far worse.

[Swampfox.f]

The Russian wrote: how about we increase the overall tax, remove the tax cuts applied to big business, and tax big business and investment income accordingly.

show some god damn responcibility for your citizens, not your corporations, corporate welfare is by far worse.

Increasing taxes is not the answer. We need to have meaningful spending cuts and a decrease in the federal government's size and scope; something that no politician seems willing to do.