All this wrangling over the Budget and attacks on entitlements is unnerving to me. If you want to talk about cutting back on entitlements, let's have the conversation. But let's open up the conversation about how to move things forward to create the future we want - thank you very much. (Rant below the fold)
I am sick and tired of listening to points of view about this or that problem facing our country that have tunnel vision. Are you for entitlement reform and shared sacrifice, or not? Should we repeal "Obamacare," or not? Should we invest in education, high speed rail, __ (fill in the blank), or not?
Why can't we have a policy discussion and recommendations to address a lot of issues all at once?
Let's start with Social Security. Can we all agree that encouraging wage growth is the single best way to ensure the program's solvency ? You can go into the weeds all you want by studying the 2010 Board of Trustees Report , maybe Bink or somebody can come up with the formula necessary to temporarily raise the wage cap of $106,800 to some kind of reasonable compromise for everybody (I'm only sayin').
How about a plan to encourage wage growth (that strengthens social security) and expand healthcare coverage and reduce healthcare costs - all together now. Why do we keep trying to address these issues as single issue concerns? Let's create a plan to offer incentives for firms to offer early retirement for our over 60 year old citizens - provided they replace those workers with say, the under 30 crowd.
The package will provide medicare for those accepting early retirement and couple it with a medicare buy-in program for everybody else over sixty years old. We'll set a time limit on the medicare buy-in program and charge a little extra for those buying in to help defray expenses.
The companies offering early retirement get a tax credit provided the new hires meet certain criteria.
Consider all the benefits of such a policy/program. We reduce unemployment by having fewer workers seeking work. We unleash all the workers over 60 years of age that can't currently leave their jobs because of healthcare concerns.
Meaningful job opportunities open up for our younger generation.
We expand healthcare coverage and perhaps reduce costs of healthcare.
And of course, such a program would stimulate the economy thereby reducing the deficit and strengthening the safety net for all Americans. Then we can have the extra $$ needed to invest in our country's future.
Some of these ideas have been presented in the DKos community. I just don't understand why our elected officials seem unable to connect a few dots (at one time).
Do you agree?