I have noticed that there is a lot of confusion surrounding "entitlements" and the fiscal cliff. The MSM keeps it that way.
Watch the video -5 minutes- and you'll be smarter than everyone else you know. Special thanks to Lee A Arnold (a kossack) who gave me permission to post his work.
Thanks Lee. This video is worth a million words.
Lee states in his video a very central issue:
Here is President Obama's first term. There were spikes in spending and in debt. What caused this?
Well, it is not Social Security. That flattens out for the next 75 years. It will be easy to manage. Please do not believe the silly propaganda that we cannot afford it. On the other hand, Medicare and Medicaid grow continuously. But there is no bulge, at this point. So they didn't do it, either. Let's make them into the top layers.
Here is Defense. The bump starts with spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Further he identifies the causes of the drop in revenue and the spike in the deficit:
Well, did you notice the dip in tax revenue? There are two causes: the economic downturn means people work less, so they pay less in taxes. And there are the Bush tax cuts, which are supposed to end. Without these two, the deficits would be small.
They complete the causes of the bump in debt. Otherwise, the debt would go downhill.
I always wondered and marveled how Romney was going to create 12 million jobs with no economic plan, explanation, policies or specifics. How could 60 million voters have faith in a big fat nothing burger policy?
It illustrates that the continued steady hand of Democratic policies of taxing the wealthy to pay their fair share, protecting Social Security, defending and strengthening AHCA and championing the working class and poor will bear fruit over time.
Lee summarizes beautififully:
But some Washington politicians are using the short-term build-up of debt, to scare us about the long-term. What they really want is to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and to level the revenues, first. Of course, this makes the debt explode. Their answer is to cut the safety-net and entitlements, including Social Security.
There is no reason to cut entitlements. It puts people in danger. And it puts the cart before the horse. A better solution is to work on it little by little. First, take care of the short term: as we exit the economic slump, raise revenue slowly, and begin now by returning to the Clinton tax rates, on the wealthiest incomes. This is unlikely to hurt economic growth. Second, work on efficiency in the healthcare system, to reduce our long-term revenue needs.