COMMENTARY | The United States narrowly avoided federal default in the beginning of August, as Barack Obama announced that both the House and Senate had agreed on a bill that would reduce the deficit, raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. The Budget Control Act of 2011 would cut spending by $917 billion over the next 10 years for a $900 billion raise in the debt ceiling. The act also established a congressional joint select committee tasked with cutting $1.5 trillion in expenditures over the next 10 years.
The only way to reclaim any integrity is to make substantial cuts to the federal budget. When the debt "super-committee" finally meets, the members need to take a long, hard look at these areas of federal spending that are prime targets to be cut from the budget.
Social Security, especially Social Security Disability Insurance
Social Security Disability Insurance is a great program for the handful of disabled citizens who would qualify after a physical performed by George Washington. It is funded through a tax placed on the earnings of all U.S. citizens who qualify. The problem is that doctors and lawyers have made entitlement programs into big business, and our own government bureaucracy is set up to play right along with them.
As I was graduating high school, three of my perfectly healthy friends were just winning their Social Security lawsuits and cashing large back paychecks for conditions such as diabetes, low IQ, and obesity. Needless to say they were just as capable of earning their living as you or I.
The 2012 budget allocates 20.04 percent of federal spending to Social Security programs. Since disability insurance is the most widely abused, it should become a definite target of budget cuts, half of which should be set aside for fraud investigation. Since the cuts are targeting one of the largest expenditures, the savings should be equally as large.
Health and Human Services (Medicare and Medicaid)
$1.1 trillion dollars is earmarked for Medicare in 2012, up 3.1 percent from 2010 expenditures. I cannot see how the cost of Health and Human Services costs the average household $9,728, but there is still a healthcare crisis in this country. I do see how medical centers are taking over entire cities in my region, and how doctors live in lavish homes for telling most patients something they already know and scribbling on a script pad.
Our medical care as a whole in this country has become troublesome. There is way too much entitlement, and insurance is sky high because medical providers charge insurance companies every penny they can. I believe Obama's mandatory insurance bill is a step in the wrong direction. Hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals need to be held accountable. Doctors who cannot do a procedure cheaply should not be able to do it at all, and the federal government probably isn't the best entity to oversee this program.
A simple solution would be to tack on an additional 20 percent in taxes for anything charged to Medicare since the medical industry is so profitable. The government would then recoup $220 billion of what it paid out, which would drastically lessen the burden on the program.
Interest on existing debt
In 2012, $474.15 billion will be spent on servicing the interest payments on our existing debt. This would pay for over half of the Social Security payments, and it's basically being given away because we are a fiscally irresponsible country. The president and every representative in the country should put their projects on hold and route every available tax dollar we have to paying off our debt.
We should also look into getting some of our debt forgiven. If other countries won't forgive our debt for their own sake, we may be able to negotiate better interest rates. Any way you cut it, this is the biggest waste of money on the books, and I for one do not believe everything that can be done about it is being done. The whole $474.15 billion could have been saved if we were more proactive. What is good for America is good for the world, and that is a free bargaining point to negotiate some concessions from lending nations.
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