Entitlements Suck US Dry
OK, that isn’t exactly true, but the amount that just 3 entitlement programs consume of the Federal budget ought to worry everyone.
WASHINGTON – Three growing entitlement programs consumed nearly half of all federal spending in 2004, and budget analysts expect them to make up an even bigger share in the future.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid accounted for more than $1 trillion in the 2004 budget year, according to the Consolidated Federal Funds Report being released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.
Almost half of the budget on just 3 entitlements!
Overall federal spending was $2.2 trillion, an increase of 5 percent from 2003.
“The total federal spending increase is actually down a bit from recent years,” said Gerard Keffer, chief of the Census Bureau’s federal programs branch. “It had been running 6 to 8 percent in the past several years.”
For years, Washington has been fighting over how to manage the growth of entitlement programs. Analysts think the fight will continue for years to come.
And in the end, the US will be bancrupt if the special interests get their way. (Yeah you AARP!)
President Bush has pushed to overhaul Social Security and establish private accounts, but Congress has balked.
AHEM! Congress stood in the way this time. Congress didn’t want to fix the problem!
Other factors contributing to spending increases include an aging population and soaring health care costs, Penner said. The oldest baby boomers will start turning 60 in January, and once they start qualifying for Social Security benefits, costs will grow at an even faster pace.
And this my friends are the people who have their hands out the furthest right now. The baby boomers are becoming the 800 pound gorilla in the room of entitlement spending. Everything is being set up for them. Which is really no surprise as they are a 40,000,000 person voting block.
Penner said increased spending on entitlement programs eventually will mean less money for other programs and increased pressure to raise taxes.
That is the Democratic plan folks. Get more spending, so that they can get tax increases, so they can spend more. That is why we should be worried. If we continue down this road to free everything that is paved with taxpayer’s money, we will soon reach a dead end.
We must control spending. We must cut these entitlement programs. We must stop the government expansion. A small government is government incapable of controlling all our lives.
I sw this too… amazing it doesn’t get more press… I was appalled… and to think Congress was wrinigng hands and gnashing teeth over a measly $40 OVER % FRIGGIN YEARS!!!!
Mark it down, the entitielment mentality is going to cause some major break in our economy over the next 10 years. It has to…. like you aptly said, its the 800 pound gorilla in the room. With the many aging (longer living) baby boomers, there aren’t enough contributors to these programs to keep them solvent. And yournger voters soon will want to JUST SAY NO to giving more and more in taxes, for a benefit they likely will never see. So we can choose:
1) recession via ever high tax rates (over 50%)
2) a responsible overhaoul of the medialc system
3) a cold-turkey plan of forcing elderly to pay for more of their own medical and pham expenses, especially selective ones such as Viagra
4) Hillary -care, unversal / national helth care, and rationing
lets hope for #2.
What saddens / disappoints me the most, is how this elderly generation can continue to rob from their grandchildren, with no conscience about what it will do to their grandchildren’s lives. Its as if they have no concern or knowledge of where this “free money” comes from, because, “by God we’ve earned it, and don’t confues us with your fancy government accounting tricks”. Taken as group, them supporting these ever -growing programs, and endlesslly screaming for more increases, means they have sold their souls (and their grandchildren’s futures) down the river for a comfy Hawaiian cruise and a few more weeks a year brain-dead in front of the slots at the casinos. Sorry for the genralzing …… well, on scecond thought, no I’m not…. because I’ve seen plenty of instances where this generalizatin is true.
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testing #2