Monday, July 30, 2012
Even a Blind Squirrel Finds an Acorn Now and Then
Bill Keller of the New York Times speaks the truth on the need for entitlement reform. Good on him. He cites a report from a Democratic Think Tank that makes a distinction between entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid etc) and investments (national infrastructure, keeping our military equipped, helping assure
that our work force is educated to a high standard, and underwriting the
kind of basic scientific research that is too risky or long-term to
attract private money), which includes a graph (you'll have to look for it, I can't reproduce it here) that shows entitlements rising over time and investments falling. Of note, Keller seems to agree that "at least the Republicans have a plan" to deal with entitlements (the Ryan Budget).
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What amazes me is the realization that "this is really happening." I've known the entitlements were going to outpace income since junior high.
As a proud Gen Xer, my earliest recollection (circa the 1980 Reagan election) of being in a 'generation' was seeing the demographic bulge of the boomers ahead of us - and knowing that the early 32:1 worker to SS recipient ratio had declined to 3:1 by 1980 and was heading to less than 2:1 - and they were living longer. The fund was estimated to be exhausted right about the time I'd hit retirement. Perfect.
Demographers Howe and Strauss captured this very well in their 1992 book "13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Fail, Ignore?" - this "Hey, the math just doesn't work on this program" realization may be one of the few things we have in common.
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