When do we really get to "soak the rich"?

[seanobrgp]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Thats one hellua first post right there.

Apologies if I came across too strongly -- that certainly wasn't my intent.

The issue of entitlement spending is a conundrum. I think the Republican Party's reluctance to outline a credible reform plan is an admission on their part that, while the rhetoric is proving successful in the immediate term, the majority of Americans are unwilling to accept a disruption in the benefits they currently or intend to receive upon eligibility. Any discussion of how we can bring these programs back to fiscal solvency and reign in the deficit has to respect that boundary -- or make a credible effort to preserve as much of the safety net as possible.

What's most disconcerting to me is the culture of expectation and ignorance that we're seeing play out. There appears to be a large subset of our society that has been taught to want all things with none of their obligations; to accept grandiose assurances, but not the grandiose costs that go with them. Separating myself from ideology, the succinct truth is this: if we want to guarantee an individuals' retirement, health care for the elderly and infirm, and provide for the destitute and unfortunate, then we must accept that these initiatives will soon be unsupportable at our current level of taxation. Social Security is rectifiable; Medicare, with an unfunded liability of $38 trillion? Probably not. If we want progress on this issue, we first have to convince the electorate that our present path is unsustainable and a re-examination of entitlement spending is in our collective self-interest to prevent some dire consequences.

We have to be accountable as a nation, and maybe that has to start with what type of society we aspire to be. If the majority of Americans want comprehensive amenities resembling those you would find in Europe, it will require their marginal tax rates or an additional VAT to comfortably support them, and we shouldn't pretend otherwise. Whatever the outcome, the time to start reform is now -- but impoverishing a third to half of the elderly population is never going to a tenable prospect.