[Opt7_Microdata_Review_1781107129]Quick Fact 1: Senate Republicans are filibustering the bill Senate Democrats have crafted
Quick Fact 2: John Boehner uses the excuse that the Senate has yet to provide a bill
Quick Fact 3: The White House’s alternative budget is on the WH website (and has been for some time).
As the budget debate heats up the GOP will continually throw around phrases like “entitlement spending.” As always, they are masters at crafting their message in a convenient and misleading manner. The uninformed reader/listener/viewer is left with the notion that the GOP simply wants to cut funding to junkies who refuse to work and instead, sit home collecting welfare and food stamps.
In reality, what they are referring to is Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. These programs are the bulk of ‘entitlement spending,’ which Republicans are adamant about slashing in order to balance the budget.
Cutting Spending or Raising Revenues?
The GOP continually mentions cutting spending and is entirely reticent to President Obama’s idea of raising anymore taxes on the wealthy or closing tax loopholes for them. There is just one problem.
Compared to the early 1980’s…
1-Federal Spending as a percentage of the economy is only slightly higher
2-Wealthy Americans (and corporations) have seen major tax cuts
3-Wealthy Americans (and corporations) have become far richer while working Americans have seen their real income fall
Context matters. These basic facts are important to keep in mind as the “cutting spending vs raising revenues/taxes on the wealthy” debate continues.
1-Federal Spending as a percentage of the economy is only slightly higher
2-Wealthy Americans (and corporations) have seen major tax cuts
3-Wealthy Americans (and corporations) have become far richer while working Americans have seen their real income fall
Any ideological and sober-free analysis of our budget woes will reveal that lowered revenues
“But Medicare isn’t an entitlement”
Now, there are those who argue that Medicare isn’t an entitlement because the eventual recipient has paid into the system. While it’s true that the word entitlement is misleading for that very reason, Medicare and Medicaid nevertheless fall into the category of “entitlement spending” in budgetary matters. Don’t be confused by the conflation of budget-speak with everyday vernacular. Regardless of what most of us think about the applicability of the word “entitlement” to Medicare and Medicaid, in budgetary nomenclature it is considered to be part of entitlement spending Republicans have this on the slab for cuts in favor of rolling back the historically-low tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.
