What will happen if we do not go after entitlement programs which if the left has

its way will consume all of our GDP.

All ready we’ve placed our nation on a course that will at the very least make our nation insolvent and at worst completely bankrupt the nation. Hell even China has said it will not support any more spending in other words they will not continue to fund this administrations excesses.

Currently the left is crying over 6 billion in cuts to entitlements which will not even pay a percentage of the interest on the debt which is currently 14 trillion.
You folks on the left should at least try to be honest and admit that we cannot sustain the spending level which we are currently at all that you are doing in insuring our children have nothing in the future other than a debt they cannot pay.

 

You don't understand. We're not "broke," we have plenty of money. We merely need to confiscate it from companies who are hoarding it, and from the uber wealthy. There's trillions there for the taking.

Then everything will be all right!

 

GOP appears poised to take on entitlements
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r Sun Mar 27, 2:30 pm ET
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – If there's any place where tea partiers in Congress might hesitate to call for cuts in Social Security and Medicare to shrink the federal debt, Florida's retirement havens should top the list.

Even here, however, Republican lawmakers are racing toward a spending showdown with Democrats exhibiting little nervousness about deep cuts, including those that eventually would hit benefit programs long left alone by politicians.

In fact, many GOP freshmen seem bolder than ever. It's Democrats, especially in the Senate, who are trying to figure out how to handle the popular but costly retirement programs. Congress, meanwhile, is rapidly nearing critical decisions on the budget and the nation's debt ceiling.

In southeast Florida last week, first-term GOP Rep. Allen West, a tea party favorite, called for changes that some might consider radical: abolish the Internal Revenue Service and federal income tax; retain tax cuts for billionaires so they won't shut down their charities; stop extending unemployment benefits that "reward bad behavior" by discouraging people from seeking new jobs.

As for entitlements, West told a friendly town hall gathering in Coral Springs, if Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid "are left on autopilot, if we don't institute some type of reform, they'll subsume our entire GDP" by 2040 or 2050. GDP, or gross domestic product, measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States.

Social Security, the largest federal program, mainly benefits retirees. Medicare provides health coverage for older people. Medicaid helps those with low incomes. Combined, the three consume about 40 percent of the budget. Their costs are growing rapidly. Social Security and Medicare benefits now exceed the payroll taxes that fund them.

 

GOP added the largest entitlement expansion since LBJ with Medicare Part D under Bush (with Bipartisan support.)

But yeah, all those unfunded promises will kill the economy soon.

 

What will happen to US hegeonomy when free trade and bad foreign and domestic policies has bankrupted the American people?

 

Same thing that happened to Rome. Empire and influence shrinks.

Not overnight, but it'll happen.

Maybe our store shelves won't be as full anymore either...

 

A legitimate concern, if we actually had free trade.

 

you don't see congress or the Pres and his staff offering to take any cuts in their benefits. I am 68 still working full time and am going to need all of my SS and Medicare although with the Obama plan they may decide I am not worth it and just kick me to the curb. Does anybody know where this guy comes from. Why is records are sealed. YOu only do that if you have something to hide. One things is for sure, hiding is one thing he is very good at.

 

We'll go bankrupt.

Of course, even if you cut the entitlements, if you engage in a new war every other year or so we'll go bankrupt too. If you're serious about the US staying fiscally sound, you've got to not only go after entitlements, but also military spending. That means closing bases overseas and telling the world we're done leading it around by Tomahawk missle.

What's sad is that I'm fairly certain at this point that the role of the USA as world leader is pretty much toast. Either we go bankrupt and it's over, or we cut our spending to within our means, and that means the aid and military influence ends all over the world. That observation depresses the hell out of me, but I just don't see how we can keep spending the way we are.

 

"MOM! The other kid did it toooooo!"