Monday, December 24, 2012
Miscellaneous 159
1) Note to Obama and Boehner - According to the Cato Institute's, Dan Mitchell, and the Mercatus Center's, Veronique de Rugy, if you folks in Washington simply restrained the growth of government spending to 2-2.5% a year, the deficit itself would all but disappear in 10-12 years. Yes, more would have to be done after that (2022-2024) due to those demographic issues pertaining to the baby-boomers retiring and all, but at least it shows that the problem isn't totally insurmountable. Please, fellows, get your act together.............2 The federal government currently spends more than $17,000 per year per capita (and, NO, this doesn't include our defense spending). That is more than England, Germany, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Belgium, Australia, Japan, Spain, Finland, Portugal, Israel, and New Zealand. This whole mentality of those on progressive side that America's problems are somehow the result of insufficient government activity is a total head-scratcher to me.............3) Mr. Obama's proposal to change the cost of living increases for Social Security is a measure that supposedly reduces the deficit by $30 billion dollars a year. I would like to adopt it and add it to the list of my proposals and happily say that my new subtotal is $138 billion ($1.38 trillion over 10 years).
Social Security does not affect the debt or the deficit. It is totally self sufficient. The only exception to that is due to the recent SS tax holiday. The SS shortfall due to the holiday is made up from the general fund.
ReplyDeleteI agree that SS isn't a major problem now. But it is a problem down the road due to demographics. The bigger problems, though, are Medicare and Medicaid. Right now they comprise about 20% of the federal budget and without any meaningful structural changs that percentage is projected to approach 50% in several decades. We simply cannot afford to ignore these realities any loner.
ReplyDeleteMy best guess, the can gets kicked further down the road. Leaving the heavy lifting to the generation that didn't create the problem.
ReplyDeleteThe wondera of American political maneuvering. The 8th wonder of the world.
Merry Christmas!!
That would be my prognostication, too, sadly.
ReplyDelete