The entitlement problem
John Stossel takes a look at entitlements:
Last month, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzed the growth of government spending and deficits for Rep. Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.), ranking member of the Budget Committee. The report estimated that spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which in 2007 represented about 8 percent of GDP, would balloon to 14.5 percent in 2030 and 25.7 percent in 2082.There is no way that can fly.
If you add in all other spending, including interest on the debt, federal spending under the CBO's scenario would eat up an astounding 75.4 percent of GDP in 2084.
If taxes don't keep pace, the CBO says the "additional spending will eventually cause future budget deficits to become unsustainable ..."
And if taxes were to keep pace? The CBO says, "[T]ax rates would have to more than double."
Comments
A recipe for disaster.
Posted by: The Doctor | June 11, 2008 03:55 PM
I like Paul Ryan's ideas. I am an admirer of John Stossel. I admire the way Stossel fights against hysteria. But on deficits/the national debt, Stossel seems to have fallen prey to bipartisan hysteria.
I do not like entitlements because entitlements take money from working people rather than allowing working people to freely give to private charities.
I do not really care how many Treasury bonds the government sells. I just care about how much the government takes from working people.
Posted by: Robbie | June 12, 2008 11:15 AM