The Unwarranted Attack on Social Safety Nets

摘要

Do we really have to cut social programs to save the budget? Of course not, answers this long-time observer. Both legislators and media mavens argue that cutting into the social safety nets is not merely necessary to reduce the deficit, but that it is also mathematically inevitable. They remind us that about 60 percent of the federal budget is dedicated to entitlements. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, entitlements are estimated to consume 64 percent of the budget in nine years and, by 2030, 70 percent of the budget.1 We are told that there is simply no way the threatening deficits can be significantly cut without taking the knife to Medicare and Social Security. Former senator Alan Simpson (R-WY), co-chairman of the deficit commission appointed by the president, remarked: