Kerby Anderson

Today I want to talk about a subject that apparently both parties would rather not discuss. That’s entitlement spending. Rarely do voters want to talk about it either. In fact, whenever I do talk about it, I usually get a call from some listener who objects to calling Medicare and Social Security as “entitlement” spending. I explain that this is what the government calls it, so we must use accurate terms.

Medicare is the federal health-insurance program for about 65 million older Americans as well as for younger people with disabilities. The trustees of the program estimate that the country will only be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2028. The trustees of the Social Security program estimate that they will only be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2034.

Perhaps you can now see why nobody wants to talk about entitlement spending. It is facing a crisis, but it is easy to postpone any meaningful changes in the program. These programs are also called “the third rail” of American politics. Touching the third rail on a train track results in electrocution. Touching these government programs risks political suicide.

Most politicians and government officials want to avoid the topic. But if a member of Congress does raise the issue, they are quickly told that the accurate estimates about insolvency are wrong. Representative Byron Donalds of Florida was on a MSNBC program recently and accurately stated when Social Security was going to be insolvent. The host continually said over and over (for nearly a minute) that estimate was not true.

These are government numbers. Unfortunately, we are not supposed to talk about entitlement spending. And if you do cite the government’s own numbers, it is likely you will be scolded that you are wrong. That does make it hard to solve a very real problem.