The year 2008 is not just an election year. It is also the year that marks the beginning of a demographic transformation that threatens the fiscal stability of this country. Already, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid eat up 42% of the federal budget. But this year, the first of the nearly 80 million baby boomers begin to draw out, instead of contribute to, our entitlement programs. The consequences of this shift will come quickly and will be staggering. Already Medicare spends more each year than it takes in. In just …
Former Supreme Court associate justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former Ambassador James R. Jones kick off this week’s Youth Entitlement Summit in today’s Washington Post: Idealistic young voters have turned out in record numbers this year — and not a moment too soon. How our next president represents the interests of young Americans will define not only his legacy but that of an entire generation of political leaders. … The Government Accountability Office and many, many others have documented the magnitude of the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid bills that …
Here’s a preview of what’s happening this week in Washington. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6YshohNEUM[/youtube] May was a successful month in Iraq, yet progress with the war supplemental has been slowed by the left. House leaders want to tie war funding to domestic spending, including unemployment insurance and pet pork projects. Time is running out for our troops without defeatist language and domestic pork. Heritage’s Brian Riedl says Congress has disregarded its promise to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington. The House is about to follow the Senate in passing a budget resolution conference report …
Heritage senior policy analyst Brian Riedl has taken a close look at the budget passed by Congress this week and notes that it: Assumes tax increases topping $3 trillion over the next decade, or $3,135 per household annually Includes 64 reserve funds that could be used to raise taxes by hundreds of billions more Increases discretionary spending by 8 percent for the second consecutive year and does not terminate a single wasteful program Completely ignores the impending explosion of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid costs Creates rules that bias the …
There is no threat to our nation’s fiscal health greater than the coming deficits from unrestrained growth in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Already Social Security and Medicare consume 7.5% of our GDP. Unless changes are made that figure will jump to 13% by 2030. Bravely stepping in to offer a policy solution, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has introduced a plan he calls “A Roadmap for America’s Future.” The four major components of the plan, outlined in today’s Wall Street Journal, include: Health Insurance. The bill provides universal access to …
At the request of the Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a letter (pdf) today detailing the grave fiscal situation our country will be in should Congress fail to reform Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid now. Already Social Security and Medicare consume 7.5% of our GDP. Unless changes are made that figure will jump to 13% by 2030. There are three basic alternatives Congress has to address this problem: Deficit finance this massive increase in spending. According to CBO’s …
What do the Bridge to Nowhere, the highway bill, the “subsidies for millionaires” farm bill and our crippling entitlement crisis have in common? They are all examples of the corrupt governance that is guaranteed to happen when the federal government takes over responsibilities best left to the states. In each of these cases (transportation funding, agriculture policy and health care), massive federal government spending and aid to states in the form of matching grants have all but drowned out the ability of state and local governments to set their own …
Yesterday in Oakland, Calif., in celebration of May Day, public school children were taught that the war in Iraq was to blame for proposed education funding cuts. Never mind that not a single dime of California’s $20 billion budget deficit went to defense spending; teachers’ unions weren’t concerned with the facts. If they were, they would be teaching their students that California’s budget crisis is due to both falling home prices and decades of voter-initiative spending mandates that have significantly shrunk the options legislators can consider in Sacramento. At the …
Established in 1965, Medicaid is a joint federal-state program created to provide health care to low-income individuals. Each state administers its own Medicaid program (e.g. California has “Medi-Cal”) while the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services monitors its efforts. The programs are funded by both states and a federal matching formula that ranges as a high as 83% for poorer states. Preserving the integrity of these matching funds is essential to getting the best health care results for low-income individuals. For almost 15 years now the independent Government Accountability …
Today, an authoritative and diverse group of scholars warned the American people: “If present trends continue, the nation’s deficit will reach unmanageable proportions, other vital public needs will be further squeezed, and/or taxes will have to rise continuously to levels that could restrict economic growth.” No, these scholars were not talking about defense spending. Instead the 16 federal budget experts from seven think tanks (including: American Enterprise Institute, Brookings Institution, Concord Coalition, Heritage Foundation, New America Foundation, Progressive Policy Institute, and Urban Institute) issued a paper concluding that automatic escalating …
