Stimulus Spending Is Not Working

In the annual reports issued yesterday by the programs’ trustees, more fiscal red flags were raised on the cost of Social Security and Medicare.  According to the reports, these unfunded liabilities pose a mounting and increasingly urgent threat to U.S. fiscal and economic stability.

The staggering growth of these program liabilities will reach a whopping $43 trillion over the next 75 years which is a $3 trillion increase over last year’s estimates.  The Medicare report also issues a fourth consecutive warning about the amount of funding the program is drawing from resources other than its dedicated revenue.

“Congress has known for years that our largest entitlement programs — particularly Social Security and Medicare — simply cannot survive as currently structured,” Ryan said.  “If we act now, we can reform these programs in a rational, well-thought-out way.  We can make them better, stronger, more responsive, more resilient, more sustainable, and more in line with the way our economy really works.  There is no reason to wait; each year of delay increases the likelihood that Congress will be forced to make deep cuts in benefits, or raise taxes or debt to intolerable levels.”

“Regrettably, the President’s budget makes the problem worse by expanding entitlement spending by $1.4 trillion over the next ten years,” Ryan continued.  “The administration has also indicated it has no intention of responding to the Trustees’ fourth consecutive Medicare funding warning — or of using the special procedure that warning provides:  to force Congress to take action on critical Medicare reform.

“The alarm has been sounded — and hitting the snooze button, yet again, is not the right choice,” Ryan concluded.  “Americans should demand we address this looming crisis, because failure to do so will have an impact on these critical programs — and our nation’s economy — for generations to come."