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.