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| 4/3 |
| 2008/3/25-28 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Domestic/SocialSecurity] UID:49558 Activity:kinda low |
3/25 New warnings about entitlements shortfall
Medicare unable to pay full benefits by 2019, Social Security by 2041
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23796483
Bush wanted to fix the problem but could not convince the Democrats
to change. Damn the Democrats!
\_ Um, wasn't Bush the one primarily responsible for making the
Medicare problem worse?
\_ Bush taps a guy to lead social security privitization. Every year
the dude releases reports that say "DOOM! DOOM!" But gee, he has
a vested intrest in shouting doom. Every year his numbers don't
really hold up that well.
\_ Bush and the Republicans conspired to make the Medicare problems
much much worse. Their "solution" to Social Security will destroy
it while enriching Wall Street. Social Security is in much better
condition than many other parts of the federal goverment.
\_ It's true, it's Bush's fault Social Security is an untenable
pyramid scheme, raided by Congress for unrelated expenses.
That some parts of the government are WORSE is not really a
good defense.
\_ There's a great quote by Warren Buffett about how
politicians are sounding the alarm about Social Security
running a small deficit 40 years from now, and yet a
$400 billion deficit today doesn't bother anyone.
Social Security is fine for something like another 40
years as long as BushCo and the Republicans don't get
their greedy paws on it.
\_ It's true, the democrats in Congress totally kept their
paws off the social security pot. Idiot.
\_ You have such a convincing debate style. Idiot.
\_ Social Security is fine: the GOP has predicting its demise since
the 30s (no joke), but Medicare is in big trouble. The entire
medical system is in trouble, in fact, since medical costs keep
going up much faster than the GDP and we have demographics working
against us to boot. Only a sea change in our health care management
philosophy, combined with some pretty serious rationing, is going
to possibly reverse that trend.
\_ Plus, you know. Figuring out what actually helps. We need
personalized medicine, current statistics-based medical
research is shit. |
| 4/3 |
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| www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23796483 WASHINGTON - Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges," with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe. The trustees, issuing a once-a-year analysis, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019. Both those dates were the same as in last year's report. But the trustees warned that financial pressures will begin much sooner when the programs begin paying out more in benefits each year than they collect in payroll taxes. The first year that payments will exceed income for Social Security will occur in 2017, just nine years from now, reflecting growing demands from the retirement of 78 million baby boomers. Medicare is projected to pay out more than it receives in income starting this year. "The financial difficulties facing Social Security and Medicare pose enormous challenges," the trustees said in their report. "The sooner these challenges are addressed, the more varied and less disruptive their solutions can be." Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, one of the trustees, warned that the country was facing a fiscal train wreck unless something is done. Consumer confidence plunges to five-year low "Without change, rising costs will drive government spending to unprecedented levels, consume nearly all projected federal revenues and threaten America's future prosperity," Paulson said in releasing the new report. "Our nation needs a bipartisan effort to strengthen both programs for future retirees." President Bush, who wanted to make overhauling Social Security his top domestic priority in his second term, tapped Paulson to lead that effort. However, Paulson has been unable to forge a consensus with Democrats, who took control of Congress in 2006. |