If people step back and separate themselves from the core issue of the federal debt, they’ll see a number approaching $20 trillion that grows like clockwork with no end in sight. Voters almost universally accept this is a problem and elect leaders who they think will fix it.
People are demanding fiscal responsibility and accountability in government. Members of both parties are sent to Washington to fix our debt problem, with one caveat — don’t touch the programs which account for well over half of government spending.
How could anyone rationally assume this issue will be resolved when the catalyst of the problem, the entitlement programs (Social Security and Medicare are the big ones) cannot be touched.
I get that everyone paid in and wants their money out when they reach retirement age. The problem is there isn’t enough money to sustain this. People are living longer and the metrics are no longer applicable to life in 2017. People aren’t willing to compromise on a higher retirement age.
It’s time to stop acting like the debt crisis is this incomprehensible enigma which policy makers and economists need to digest for us. We all know what the problem is. We are simply unwilling to fix it.
Until we accept the need for comprehensive entitlement reform, we must stop demanding that government fix a spending problem caused by the people’s inability to accept a new lifestyle.
We know what will fix the deficit. The only question is if the people want the problem fixed.
Austin Gerlach
Easton
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
