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> The US spends $4.x trillion every year on social programs Source? > About 65% of all US Government spending is going to entitlements at this point Source?

> The US spends $4.x trillion every year on social programs Source? > About 65% of all US Government spending is going to entitlements at this point Source? And does this include military? > At the current rate of growth, entitlement spending alone will consume all US Government spending in about 30 years Source? And is this just the "current rate of growth" frozen in place or does it take into account ways that that rate of growth has been changing as well?

antidamage 9y ago
At least part of the problem there is that once you give people that social welfare they're expected to pay for ridiculously high insurance costs. Get rid of the rich-person welfare that comes in the form of bloated medical and insurance costs and your social welfare budget for the poor will plummet. The way it's organised now is that your government gives the poorest some money while the rich complain incessantly, then the rich siphon it off for themselves.
- murftown 9y ago
  > once you give people that social welfare OK, I don't disagree with what you're saying necessarily, but I'm not convinced that social welfare is by any means biggest way we're wasting money, nor that it's necessarily causing some huge social dysfunction that would magically fix itself if we "trimmed the bloat". I think it's just hard for a lot of people to procure enough resources to comfortably live in this society, so we have to decide how to best deal with that. > Get rid of the rich-person welfare Great idea. How do you propose to do that? > your government gives the poorest some money ..., then the rich siphon it off for themselves.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >At least part of the problem there is that once you give people that social welfare they're expected to pay for ridiculously high insurance costs. Only if your laws allow for "ridiculously high insurance costs". Caps exist for a reason.
JauntTrooper 9y ago
That sounds about right. According to the Center on Budget and Public Policy [0], in the 2016 federal budget, this was spending for each: 24% = Social Security 26% = Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP/Affordable Care Act 9% = Other Safety Net programs ex-SS/Medicare 8% = Benefits for federal retirees + veterans That's 67% right there. Other significant spending: 16% = Defense 6% = Interest on debt 2% = Transportation/Infrastructure 2% = Education 2% = Science and medical research The federal government took in $3.3 trillion and spent $3.9 trillion, so $0.6 trillion borrowed, which is almost our entire defense budget. To balance the budget, you'd need to take out 15 percentage points from the categories above, or increases taxes by ~$4,600 per US household (or a combination of the two). [0] https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-w...
- murftown 9y ago
  OK, but isn't it true that a lot of Defense spending is categorized differently and doesn't show up on the budget?
  - Gargoyle 9y ago
    When you ask for a source and someone provides it, any further rebuttals on your part really should include a source of your own.
    - murftown 9y ago
      Reasonable request. I thought that by starting with "isn't it true" I was implying that I didn't know. Also, the person who provided the source was someone else, so if you're asking for a source re my question, perhaps someone will provide it. In any case your poke got me wondering and doing a bit of research.
      - mistermann 9y ago
        I must admit, those numbers seem dramatically out of line with my intuition as well. If I was a betting man I'd say there's a bit more to the story, but then the source (https://www.cbpp.org/about/mission-history https://www.cbpp.org/about/mission-history) seems fairly left leaning so if there was any bending of the truth I'd expect it in the other direction. Perhaps the reason this feels off is because it's the government budget, which is a subset of the overall economy obviously. And, a lot of the dollars spent here are going back into corporations, for varying levels of return on the dollar I'm sure. I think this is why the numbers sound so great/generous, but don't match reality when you look out the window, watch the news, or read the newspaper.

antidamage 9y ago

At least part of the problem there is that once you give people that social welfare they're expected to pay for ridiculously high insurance costs. Get rid of the rich-person welfare that comes in the form of bloated medical and insurance costs and your social welfare budget for the poor will plummet. The way it's organised now is that your government gives the poorest some money while the rich complain incessantly, then the rich siphon it off for themselves.

murftown 9y ago
> once you give people that social welfare OK, I don't disagree with what you're saying necessarily, but I'm not convinced that social welfare is by any means biggest way we're wasting money, nor that it's necessarily causing some huge social dysfunction that would magically fix itself if we "trimmed the bloat". I think it's just hard for a lot of people to procure enough resources to comfortably live in this society, so we have to decide how to best deal with that. > Get rid of the rich-person welfare Great idea. How do you propose to do that? > your government gives the poorest some money ..., then the rich siphon it off for themselves.
coldtea 9y ago
>At least part of the problem there is that once you give people that social welfare they're expected to pay for ridiculously high insurance costs. Only if your laws allow for "ridiculously high insurance costs". Caps exist for a reason.

JauntTrooper 9y ago

That sounds about right. According to the Center on Budget and Public Policy [0], in the 2016 federal budget, this was spending for each: 24% = Social Security 26% = Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP/Affordable Care Act 9% = Other Safety Net programs ex-SS/Medicare 8% = Benefits for federal retirees + veterans That's 67% right there. Other significant spending: 16% = Defense 6% = Interest on debt 2% = Transportation/Infrastructure 2% = Education 2% = Science and medical research The federal government took in $3.3 trillion and spent $3.9 trillion, so $0.6 trillion borrowed, which is almost our entire defense budget. To balance the budget, you'd need to take out 15 percentage points from the categories above, or increases taxes by ~$4,600 per US household (or a combination of the two). [0] https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-w...

murftown 9y ago
OK, but isn't it true that a lot of Defense spending is categorized differently and doesn't show up on the budget?
- Gargoyle 9y ago
  When you ask for a source and someone provides it, any further rebuttals on your part really should include a source of your own.
  - murftown 9y ago
    Reasonable request. I thought that by starting with "isn't it true" I was implying that I didn't know. Also, the person who provided the source was someone else, so if you're asking for a source re my question, perhaps someone will provide it. In any case your poke got me wondering and doing a bit of research.
    - mistermann 9y ago
      I must admit, those numbers seem dramatically out of line with my intuition as well. If I was a betting man I'd say there's a bit more to the story, but then the source (https://www.cbpp.org/about/mission-history https://www.cbpp.org/about/mission-history) seems fairly left leaning so if there was any bending of the truth I'd expect it in the other direction. Perhaps the reason this feels off is because it's the government budget, which is a subset of the overall economy obviously. And, a lot of the dollars spent here are going back into corporations, for varying levels of return on the dollar I'm sure. I think this is why the numbers sound so great/generous, but don't match reality when you look out the window, watch the news, or read the newspaper.