To dare utter words that ring fairly clearly of threat wouldn’t seem to be the best way to address looming shortfalls in two of the most revered and widely needed benefits programs in the country—Social Security and Medicare.
The Republicans are holding these two programs in a hostage-taking stance, while Democrats want to tax people making more than $400K annually to make up the deficits that apparently are coming. Typical stances for each party, but the fact that these programs are being held as bargaining chips in the first place is a maddening development.
How dare someone contemplate—and then suggest out loud— dissolving these, taking these away?
Backing up for a moment, isn’t it possible that the money held back from millions of paychecks year after year for decades has been reallocated to prop up other projects? Kind of like what individuals and families do when they need funds for something they deem more important—they rob Peter to pay Paul. Isn’t it possible that what has happened on a national scale is, simply, gross mismanagement of a program that should have been self-sustaining? An easy pot to stick grubby fingers into?
How dare Republicans even hint at doing something to these programs? How dare they?! All fiscal-responsibility-economic-speak aside, how dare they?
To paraphrase an old muffler commercial: “These entitlement programs—fix them!”
That’s part of the problem, though, isn’t it? You just can’t stand the word entitlement, can you, Rick, and Ron and all your elephant cronies?
Don’t even kid about taking them away, you heartless bastards. Just because you don’t need them doesn’t mean many others don’t.
3 Cents' 