Paul Ryan Calls for Entitlement Reform in Obama's Budget

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What are "entitlement reforms", which will "bend down the cost curve of running the government"?
If Mr. Ryan is talking about (entitlements) Social Security and Medicare and (reforms) reducing the expenses of running either one or both to prevent the government from running out of money ... rather than having the wealthy pay their fair share, than he is talking about taking away money from people living in retirement or the handicapped, who already have trouble making ends meet.
Instead of using big words to hide realities, Mr. Ryan should make it clear what he is proposing so that all of us living on Social Security and eligible for Medicare will know that he wants to make us poorer while keeping his rich sponsors rich or making them richer yet.

John de Waal of TX 12:05PM October 09, 2011

WE should think first that we have 2 wars and we did not pay any tax increase for those wars. Mr. President please try to add a Tax for Debt. I am sure the American People will support this idea if it is in a reasonable range. Please do this before going to the entitlements. And It sould be a lesson for all of us that wars means lives, money there are not games.

ROXANA POPESCU of CA 2:12PM February 16, 2011

We are told by the President and Congress that WE the people need to sacrifice by taking a cut on entitlements. We cannot "depend" upon the govt., and we need to do our part. Sounds Nice and patriotic, but it's trickery.
CORPORATIONS should no longer depend upon the govt. for Subisidies and Tax cuts. These corps. make HUGE profits while the american people deal with 9% unemployment.
They are proposing cuts to police, firefighters, community health centers, head start, WICK, meals on wheels for seniors/disabled and afterschool programs.
This means JOBS people.
Let's talk about the corporate subsidies and tax cuts before we talk about taking meals away from home bound people. We should be ashamed of our priorities.

rachel of WI 12:15PM February 16, 2011

Diane - Stop drinking the kool-aid.. Czars are a red herring and there have been 'czars' going back to George HW Bush who actually created most of these advisory positions, does Obama have more advisors than GHWB yes.. but W had them and so did Clinton. they are not 'Czars' but the media and at the time, the GOP labeled them as such.. Illegals are not the boogey men either.. are there problems that they cause? certainly, but the economy isnt being hurt by illegals doing jobs other people refuse to do. Unless of course you want to go work fast food 50 hours a week or spend all day picking crops in 85-90 degreee weather..
Scott - You have to separate spending on natinal defense and the military.. the way we fight wars is changing.. we need people and tools, but we dont necessarily need the same tools we did 30 years ago. The military spends too much on things that don't necessarily make us any safer and then don't buy things they need in advance like body armor and APVs.. the fact that congress is forcing spending on an alternative jet engine that the military has said they don't want is another issue. We can also cut military spending by bringing troops home from Europe, japan, korea, etc.. There are few realistic large scale threats in the world now.. we should stop acting like we need to be everywhere to help somone with a major engagement at a moments notice..
And the overall fact is if you are on Social Security or Medicare/medicaid now you won't be affected by the long term proposed changes. At age 41, I will be and I'm okay with that. Its my responsibility to prepare for my retirement, not the government's. raising the age to 68 by 2030 really isnt much of a big deal for most workers.. certain jobs require an earlier retirement, a lot don't..
We are all going to have to sacrifice something, just as our parents or grandparents did through war and the great depression.. anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something we can't afford..

Jack of OH 10:02AM February 16, 2011

The idea of cutting benefits to the most needy is completely insane. Thank you for even suggesting it Tea Partiers and Republicans. This will bite you in the rear end in 2012. Almost as absurb as extending Bush tax cuts. Plese cutting health care for all representatives and senators. Cut their pay to 10000per year. Make them work from their home states. We do not need the expense of these useless clown in Washington. Tea party people who are receiving Social Security checks ,which for most everybody that draws is well below the poverty line, should mail their checks back to the Government. Bring the army home. What they are doing is as doomed as Vietnam. Try to collect war debt from Iraq where we did such a good job of nation building. What did the average American get out of this war. Nothing. Not even a reduction in gas prices. What will we get out of Afganistan? The same thing Russia got. Ideologies cannot be changed. It is obvious that we do not have the answers. Read history of Hoover. Read history of Franklin D Roosevelt. Tea Party and Republicans strongly resemble Hoovers party members. This county would not exist had it not have been for Roosevelts new deal. And the Republicans still want to destroy it. Most retirees cannot buy groceries much less pay the medical add on exprense of a doctor visit. Cut these clowns that are in government to the bone so they feel the pain.

jr lambert of AL 9:04PM February 15, 2011

1. The only way I see for you to claim that half of federal tax revenues are going to defense spending is if you do not include FICA taxes in that calculation. If you are doing that, I think it is misleading of you not to state that up front. If not, where are you getting your numbers?
2. Your assertion that there is something terrible about spending large amounts of money on national security is simply your opinion, not fact. For my part, I believe the first function of the national government is the defense of the nation and that the defense budget was cut way too far in the 1990s, leaving the military unprepared for what was asked of it. You may think the world is not a dangerous place but I see little reason for that belief. There are many people who wish this county and its citizens grave harm. Some of them won't be stopped by kind words or even not so kind ones. It will take force. That is not to say there is not room to cut the defense budget but it should only be done in a prudent manner
3. Frankly, I find your assertion that "Social Security and Medicare have had NOTHING TO DO WITH TAXES AND THE DEFICIT. They are paid for with other payroll deductions - insurance & annuity payments for a modest but secure retirement" to be illogical. What comes out of my paycheck every two weeks is taxes. Calling it some other name does not change what it is. And it does not go into some account where it earns interest and waits for me to tap it, no matter that the SSA sends me a form every year showing what I have paid in, etc. It gets spent right away on other people. That is how it has been since it started; when the government first set up these programs, the money didn't sit their waiting for the people paying it to need it; it went to retirees and people in need of medical care then. I don't see anything wrong with that but to pretend the system works otherwise is misleading. Furthermore, the portion of FICA taxes that go to Medicare is only a small portion of the amount the government spends on health care, which at over 20% according to the CBO is the single biggest expense the government has, slightly larger than either social security or national defense.
4. You do realize that FICA taxes are highly regressive right? I'm guessing from your posts that you are fairly liberal and am surprised you don't seem to have a concern with this. Even raising the ceiling to 175K won't change the reality that the high earners don't pay anything into this on most of their income.
5. I see no reason because SS and Medicare have a separate tax devoted to them that they should be exempt from the discussion on taxing and spending priorities. They should be on the table as well.
6. I suggest you go back and check the news. There are more than a few members of the GOP who have proposed defense cuts, including the SecDef.

Scott of MN 7:28PM February 15, 2011

Social Security and Medicare have been paid for through our wages. THESE ARE NOT ENTITLEMENTS! Are IRA's and 401K's entitlements? I paid into it and it's my money. It is my BENEFIT that I paid for. If you pay monthly for a house insurance policy and your home gets damaged you are able to collect on that policy.
Get rid of all illegals who are getting everything free that we who are on Social Security have to pay for with our meager income?
Some of us have incomes as low as $400-$700 a month. I can't even afford a co-pay to visit a doctor. I can't go to the emergency room without having to pay for that, which illegals get free. Illegals are the ones who are draining our economy. They have jobs Americans need. They have free medical care, welfare, are eligble for free school lunches (they shouldn't even be going to school and using school funds meant for educating AMERICAN children.), buy cars and homes while American citizens are homeless, and sent money back to their families in their own country, thus building their economy and breaking ours down.
The government has been "borrowing" from Social Security for a long time. It's about time they "paid back" their loan, WITH INTEREST. Then Social Security would be solvent. STOP TAKING FROM THE ELDERLY, DISABLED AND STOP GIVING TO THE ILLEGALS'.
Get rid of all those Czars Obama put onto the government payroll. Our Constitution did not allow for these and the American Citizens did not vote or ammend the Constitution to include them in the government. There are too many hands pulling from a small bowl. There should be no earmarks or pork of any kind whatsoever allowed attached to any bill or document. How about cutting out any increase in earnings for every Stae and Federal government position? All government positions from now on will be temporary, short term positions by persons who work outside the government at other employment, which, when their term is over they will still have. No retirement payments will be paid for these government positions. They will have to rely on retirement from their regular employment, just like everyone else.
Homeland Security is a laugh. TSA is an expensive way to allow perverts to do what they like best. Putting money into radiating and sexually abusing Americans is not stopping terrorists who come through our airports. Especially when the terrorists have amnesty against being searched. What happened to securing our borders? Let's bring our military home and put them to work protecting our borders instead. We'll save on police, jail, and court costs for "hosting" criminal illegals who cross our borders bringing drugs and armament and kill and rape and pillage our homes and communities. These same criminal illegals are always coming back and getting caught over and over again committing the same crimes. Deport all illegals and put Americans and legal immigrants back to work.
WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?

Diane of UT 3:26PM February 15, 2011

but the GOP and Ryan are trying to hoodwink Americans into thinking they are.
HALF of our taxes pay for DEFENSE. HALF. When Clinton was president - the defense budget was $300 billion. Now it is $800 billion - yes a HALF TRILLION MORE than 12 years ago. GW Bush dragged us into two wars that have cost us $$2 trillion + since they began - at least (not to mention the lives lost...) But he forgot to pay for them!!!! Instead he CUT taxes. So we increased spending by $500 billion/yr, and reduced revenues by $400 billion/yr. We added Homeland Security at $75 billion/yr - and guess what - that is ONE TRILLION DOLLARS of the deficit.
Set things back to hat we had under Clinton, and ONE TRILLION could be recovered of the deficit without cutting anything else!!! Old people can still have electricity, kids can still get help with college....
Also - Social Security and Medicare have had NOTHING TO DO WITH TAXES AND THE DEFICIT. They are paid for with other payroll deductions - insurance & annuity payments for a modest but secure retirement. Any shortfalls we have there can be easily fixed with ONE ACTION - increase the ceiling income for deductions to $175k. Then these two plans are covered until 2065 at least.....
So - three things:
Set taxes back to Clinton levels (1999).
Set military spending at Clinton levels (1999)
Raise the SSI and Medicare ceiling to $175k
These alone would cover 95% of our shortfall. Every year.
Ask Ron Paul about cutting military spending.
Ask Obama what he said during the campaign about raising the Medi and SSI ceilings.
Ask Newt Gingrich and Clinton about the tax rates in the 1990's.....
Ryan is just trying to make a name for himself - but he cares not at all about seniors, the poor, AND taking real steps to fix the difict in a big way.
The GOP talked a lot about cuts - but they won't touch defense - the biggest bloated, unaudited, imperialistic and ineffective expense on the books.....Why? Because the politicians in the GOP/TP are funded by big business who makes lot of money off military spending.
Remeber what Eisenhower said - beware of "...the military industrial complex". They are consuming our taxes, our well-being, and they use fear to control people. Cynical and destructive - to US!

DeeToo of SC 12:45PM February 15, 2011