Weekly Columns
It's becoming difficult to tell the difference between Greece and the U.S. Senate.
Washington, D.C., is not known as a beacon of honesty and candor. So it's almost shocking to see the House pass a budget bill as thoroughly straightforward and grounded in reality as the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act.
Just like the budget resolution passed by House Republicans in March, this budget measure does not deny the severity of our debt problem and does not pretend that there are quick, easy fixes. It is impossible to reduce our $16 trillion debt unless every aspect of the federal budget is on the table -- from social programs to defense to entitlement spending.
Today's parents face a prospect rare in American history: the possibility that our children and grandchildren will inherit an America with less opportunity and prosperity than previous generations enjoyed. Integral to the American Dream is the assumption that each generation will enjoy a higher standard of living and economic opportunity than their parents did. However, the economic downturn and unsustainable government debt levels have combined to create troubling economic trends that point to an uncertain future for today's young people.
The Medicare and Social Security Trustees just released their annual reports, and the findings are predictably sobering. According to the latest calculations, Medicare will go bankrupt in 2024. Social Security will run out of money in 2033 -- three years earlier than last year's report projected.
Those dates may have seemed comfortably distant during the '80s and '90s, but in 2012 we can no longer deny that dire consequences are coming -- and soon -- if we don't take action to save these programs.
By any measure, the U.S. tax code is broken.
To hear the media tell it, congressional Republicans have no solutions for health care reform beyond repealing Obamacare. However, House Republicans have not only proposed but have passed numerous plans to make health care more affordable and accessible -- without putting the federal government in charge of one-sixth of the national economy.
Excessive government spending has become so commonplace, it rarely makes headlines. Yet every so often a government spending scandal comes along that reminds us all just how careless and irresponsible some federal agencies are with taxpayer money. New revelations about extravagant spending at the Government Services Administration (GSA) serve as one of the most egregious examples in recent memory. A report by the GSA inspector general revealed that the agency spent $823,000 for one training conference in October 2010.
The Supreme Court is still deliberating the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law, but the court of public opinion has already returned its verdict. Surveys show that a majority of Americans believe the law's individual mandate provision, which would force every citizen to purchase health insurance or pay a fine, is unconstitutional. Public opinion polls also show the law remains just as unpopular today as it was when Democrats forced it through the Pelosi/Reid Congress two years ago over widespread protests.
It's the most predictable economic crisis in history. Driven by four consecutive years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits, the nation's publicly held debt is projected to reach 73 percent of the economy this year. Funding for Medicare, Social Security and portions of Medicaid consume 43 percent of federal spending and will rise to 54 percent in 10 years. The federal government is so enormous, it represents 24 percent of our total economy.
Throughout the months of debate and public protest leading up to the 2010 passage of President Obama's health care bill, the White House repeatedly attempted to assure the American people that the government health care takeover wouldn't be all that intrusive. Various members of the Obama administration, as well as the Pelosi-led Democratic majority that controlled Congress at the time, appeared on the news every day to repeat their mantra: "Those who are happy with their current health care can keep it."