McConnell Blames Entitlements, Not GOP, for Rising Deficits

I put the numbers up above, right now the interest is up to 310 billion a year, just under half of what Medicare costs or only about 100 billion less per year than Medicaid. Of course those interest payments are becoming more and more every single year so if nothing is done about it then it'll only be a matter of time until it costs more than Medicare.

Point is you need across the board cuts including cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense spending, and unemployment.

That said, you have Democrats trying to add 4 trillion in spending and you won't get Republicans to make the cuts needed.....so that's why we're kind of screwed.

 

Medicare and Social Security are the largest entitlements, and until 2011,when Boomers starting getting to retirement age, Social Security was bringing in more than it paid out -- it will be until the 2030's before that surplus is eliminated, and by then, the working to retired ratio will have returned to a favorable balance because the Boomers will be dying off and the much smaller in population Gen X'ers will be the ones retiring. If that's still a concern, and you wanted the SS fund to stay in surplus year to year, you could offset it with a 2% bump to payroll tax.

No one wants to vote to cut benefits to old people from a retirement fund that's something they paid into all their lives. Angry old people might the most powerful force in electoral politics and putting old pensioners in a position where they can't support themselves on what they barely survived on the year before is not a winning look for anyone that would be associated with it.

When overall defense spending steadily increases from $437.4 in 2003 to $874.4 in FY 2018, that should probably provide a clue as to where budget problems are coming from. The senate just voted to boost it again for FY2019, and you'll have to dig deep to see who voted against it because the WaPo and the usual suspects didn't bother to mention them. If Republicans who won't vote against entitlements are a problem, I'd counter that Democrats that can't say no to a single defense increase are worse, since one would think their constituents would certainly be more sympathetic to the notion.

For a party that claims to be united in their hatred of Trump, they gave him all the funding he wanted for the DoD and then some. The only votes against were Sanders (an independant) and the libertarian-leaning Senate Republicans:

Flake (R-AZ)
Lee (R-UT)
Paul (R-KY)
Perdue (R-GA)
Sanders (I-VT)
Sasse (R-NE)
Toomey (R-PA)

 

^i blame it on the Clintons and their bs triangulation ploys to "look strong" with the military, "look tough" on crime, and loving gun rights (which no one at the NRA believed)

 

What a predictable *******. The b*stard is doing exactly what several of us here have been saying he would do once that tax cut bill was passed. Shower largess on the wealthiest people in this country and the corporations, while cutting programs for children, the elderly, and the poorest Americans. We didn't need the ****ing tax cut, and it's bad enough that inflation is going to shoot up, taking money out of the pockets of average Americans, because of trump's insane, bizarre "tariff war" with the world. Many of those hurt the worst will be working class Americans that voted for these pieces of excrement that run the Republican Party, and they are oblivious to what is coming down the pike, right at their pocketbooks.

 

https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsreports/rpt/mthTreasStmt/mts0918.pdf

For anyone who wants to look at the actual report. It looks like there was a major surplus in September due to very low spending that minimized the deficit for FY 2018.

 

This deficits are the dems fault. Who tanked the Economy but Clinton and Obama? Who wasted all that money chasing Bin Laden? Obama. Who spent all that money on bail-outs and stimulus? Obama. Who raised taxes increasing revenue but hurting spending on luxury items and thus putting Europeans out of work? Obama.

Who created these stupid entitlements in the first place? FDR. A democrat.

We need to end Medicare, SS and welfare.

- They need to replaced with workfare as in shut up and get a jump you lazy people.
- Pay for your own medical bills or if you can't afford them, don't drink and do drugs and you won't need health insurance. Look at me, never been to a doctor and feel just fine.
- Save for your own retirement and you won't need SS. There are so many tools now to save for retirement. Stop buying Nike shoes or rap albums. Or stop wasting money on philosophy classes and spend your money to learn how to fix cars or a real trade.

Democrats have been obstructing Trump and Republicans for too long. We need to end entitlements and cut taxes - if the rich didn't pay taxes, our economy would grow forever at 10% a year. The rich know how to invest and make money, they can help everyone make money. ANd once they have the money, they will provide for SS and medicare for their people. Because they know how to do it.

 

You know, I can't really disagree with you there.

He's bringing people together!

 

I kinda always thought that that was their plan to get rid of entitlements - basicly choke funding until they are hemorrhaging money and then point to that as "proof" that these bleeding heart liberal programs don't work and we have to eliminate them.

It has very much seemed to me like they've been actively trying to create budget crisises for as long as I can remember. That's how they scaled back unemployment insurence in the 90's, IIRC.

 

The problem is the coporate tax rate cut.

 

I am trying to understand why "entitlements" is a bad thing.
I love how they have eupheminized entitlements to mean . . . "things people feel entitled to but are not entitled to"

Because. . . .. .
Social Security is an entitlement. . . . .people pay into it they whole lives
I don't think that it is wrong to expect some of that money back

Basically. . they want it to be like car insurance
you pay into it your whole life
but when you actually use it . .they drop you

Rocket River

 

Why is a noose around your throat a bad thing?

Why is crippling debt a bad thing?

Think on those answers and you'll figure out why the current state of entitlements are a bad thing.

 

As we see above the little Bobbies of the the world are too stupid to know what is going on,but not the top GOP politicians or the Wall Streeters who want to be paid to manage SS funds. They want TO STEAL THE SAVINGS OF THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WHO HAVE PAID INTO SOCIAL SECURITY for all of their working lives.

I do not think they will get away with this theft. Their best shot is to try to talk the stupid little Bobbies out of Social Security by calling "gubmint spending" or "entitlements" which causes them to go brain dead.

 

Medicare and SS are not entitlements they are funds paid for by the people of this country.

If you call it an entitlement you are a lying sack of ****.

DD

 

actually . . .that is kind of my point.
People paid into it. . . . THEY ARE ENTITLED TO IT . . . . .. .
We have allow them to make this seem like a bad thing .. .a bad word
It is an ENTITLEMENT .. . . .

However. . . . .when people say ENTITLEMENT now they equate it to an UNEARNED HANDOUT
which is not true .. . . . this word game has allowed people to be deceived

Rocket River

 

No, it just means something that people feel entitled to and people generally don't care if it bankrupts the entire country, they won't take a dime less of what they feel entitled to......that's why they are a noose around the neck of this country.

You can have the most conservative Republican but if they are a senior citizen, they wouldn't sacrifice a dime to help the country out and they'd vote out anyone who suggested they do so. That's why entitlements ALWAYS get more expensive until they absolutely bankrupt the system and responsibility is forced upon the people...and even then they'll kick and scream about it.

You'll always hear "cut defense spending", and I agree that's an area that needs to be cut too, but when entitlements and interest makes up 3 trillion dollars a year already....cutting 100 billion isn't going to do anything.

 

Yeah, they're pretty transparent. They can't get people to get on board with cutting entitlements (because, you know, people like them), so they try to engineer a budget crisis to force it.

Yes. I like calling it an entitlement because we're literally entitled to it. I know conservative ears don't hear it that way, but I think it's important for people to understand and appreciate that they are entitled and they should not be shamed out of claiming what they paid for and are owed.

 

Funny that Corporation and Rich People are constantly feel entitled to not pay taxes at the same rate as anyone else
infact they work hard to vote out anyone that suggest otherwise. . .and to quote you "they absolutely bankrupt the system and responsibility is forced upon the people...and even then they'll kick and scream about it."

So There is that

Rocket River

 

Even today, SS is taking in about as much as it is giving out. I bet the old people in Mississippi, Alabama, etc will miss the SS and medicare than the people in blue states, but they are too ignorant to understand that. FDR should have never created SS and just let the old people live in miserable conditions, since they mostly want to vote for GOP anyway.