Though I fully realize how tempting it is to exaggerate the US debt issue, our debt is certainly not unresolveable. The range of solutions is simply sufficiently politically unpalatable, especially in the current political climate, that major fixes would not be put into place until the problem becomes acute. Some of the solutions include:
- Letting all Bush tax cuts expire. We did just fine with those tax rates in the past, we can again, while significantly helping the budget
- Pinning Social Security and government pension payment increases to cost of living increase, while gradually increasing the age of full benefits to 70.
- Reducing Medicare costs by having people take up some part of the burden or placing some limits on care, as private insurers do. This is contraversial since it means that some might be deprived of lifesaving procedures at the end of their lives. However, with medical developments and up to millions of dollars in medical expenses, one can often extend a persons life by, say, another year. The question we have to ask ourselves is how much public money we are willing to spend as a society to keep someone alive for another year - an average of $100,000? $1 million? I say this with full understanding that my care could be rationed someday as well.
- Assess the range of potential dangers to the US, along with benefits of US influence, and scale military spending appropriately, or let it grow more slowly with time.
- Other tax or spending reforms
Anyway, there are many potential answers (including many not listed). The problem with nearly all of them is that they require sacrifice, so they are politically unpalatable by one side or the other.
Senior citizens are the only group of people who go out to vote.
So it will actually be easier to execute all senior citizens than do what you listed above.
But you are on the right track, half of the debt problems will be gone if someone manage to cut the entitlement program.
