Quote:
Originally Posted by Tribesman
Entitlements?
For a long long time the major expense the US govt had was pensions and payments to civil war vets or their relatives.
The current entitlements program for social spending on vets and their families is the 2nd biggest dept of the government ......after the military.
So where are you going to swing that axe on social spending?
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It's not the biggest expense, entitlements (SS, medicare, medicaid, etc) is BY FAR. Veteran's affairs is a fraction of entitlement spending.
Cut SS, medicare and medicaid first.
I don't expect to live off that, so I'm not expecting anyone else to. (obviously it would have to be a phased thing, I do not suggest ending payments to current retirees, but a phased increase in retirement age, and means testing so only people that are too poor to survive get any safety net. As a "retirement plan" it should cease to exist, the Constitution doesn't guarantee a life without work after some arbitrary age.
BTW, when pensions was a major outlay, total government spending as a % of GDP was a tiny fraction of what it is today. (like 2.5% vs 25%)