Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment, SS, Welfare

whygohome

What should be done with these programs?
Would anyone like to see some of these programs come to an end?
Can we reform these programs in an effective way?

Jason P

Well, we are way over budget and these three areas make up almost 55% of the budget. Military makes up another 20%. So the four major budget items that politicians are scared crapless to address make up 75% of the budget.

With out really making drastic cuts in all four areas, a balanced budget will never be achieved.

And we have seen the self-inflicted wounds that addressing one of these major programs (medicade) can cause during an election. You end up having (amusing) commercials of you chucking an elderly person off a cliff.

Thus, I don't think anything will ever be done.

Jeanwah

Why do people feel that social programs should be changed? Of all the other programs, ALL of them, to cut into the services that people need most is NOT the wise thing to do. What the hell is wrong with people??? (not you OP, just the idea that cutting social services is ass-backwards).

Look into military, space exploration, foreign relations, etc. FIRST.

Jason P

Jeanwah wrote:

Why do people feel that social programs should be changed? Of all the other programs, ALL of them, to cut into the services that people need most is NOT the wise thing to do. What the hell is wrong with people??? (not you OP, just the idea that cutting social services is ass-backwards).

Look into military, space exploration, foreign relations, etc. FIRST.

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Avast ye nonsense about end'n no space sail'n. Tis be a mere piece of eight of ye total plunder. Shiver me timbers, theres be more hornswagglin by ye scurvy dogs thats been elected to scuttle.

Savvy?

Ahoy, mateys!

riotgrl

I think, based on the demographics of America, that some of the biggest expenses for these programs will be short-lived. The baby boomers are hitting retirement age which will increase the expenditures for some of these programs over the next few years. Couple that with a decline in the number of people that are working age and you create a bigger problem than a simple revenue issue.

Here are our demographics in 1950



And again in 2010



You can see that the number of people that are living to be 80+ has increased dramatically. It makes sense to increase revenue AND cut spending in other programs to make sure our elderly, children, and the disabled are taken care of, as we promised them they would be. We should reform other social welfare programs to get them off the rolls by using that money, in the short term, to help them get education or job skills to get them to work.