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 If
you’ve ever managed a personal budget, you know the sometimes burdensome
feeling a mandatory payment can create. After paying the mandatory
monthly mortgage payment, car payment, power, water, and insurance bill,
the current balance left in the bank account for all other discretionary
expenses in the month can sometimes seem bare, especially when that
discretionary spending includes groceries, gas, and unexpected, but
necessary, expenses.
We are seeing a similar situation in our federal budget. Entitlement
spending, or government spending that takes place automatically every
year without any action from Congress, is currently 62 percent of our
overall federal spending. To better illustrate this, take a piece of
paper and tear off two-thirds of the paper. This is the proportioned
amount of federal spending that automatically goes towards programs like
Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Now take a look at the
remaining one-third of the piece of paper. This is the amount we have
left to cover our nation’s entire spending on defense, health and
scientific research, education, transportation, the environment, and all
other requirements set forth in the Constitution.
In fact, the Congressional Budget Office projects that over the next ten
years, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security spending combined will
grow 39 percent after adjusting for inflation and population growth, and
by almost 2 percentage points as a share of GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
as the baby boomer generation reaches the age of retirement. According
to a report by the Heritage Foundation, health care spending has
consistently grown one-third faster than the economy, and if the same
growth rate continues over the next four decades, Medicare and Medicaid
programs alone would equal as large of a fraction of our economy as the
entire federal budget does today. Projected spending increases for
Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will soon create an
unsustainable deficit.
Given these numbers, it’s no wonder our budget is strained and our
deficit continues to grow at a record pace. Runaway entitlement spending
is forcing us to attempt to fund everything else in our country on
one-third of our budget, which is impossible. Just as if you attempted
to spend two-thirds of a family budget on a mortgage payment, and use
only one-third of the family budget to cover everything else the family
must pay for like gas, college tuition, bills, health care, groceries, a
car, and clothing, the likely result would be insurmountable debt.
Likewise, the result of such a federal budget is a $9
trillion-and-growing deficit. This type of budgeting doesn’t make sense
for an individual family, and it doesn’t make sense for our federal
government.
If we remain on this current budgetary path, our budget deficit will
cause us to make no other choice but to eliminate other vital public
needs or raise taxes, both of which would have serious implications on
our economy. Individuals would pay two-and-a-half times more in federal
taxes by 2045 than they currently do if nothing is changed. This means
individuals now paying the lowest percentage of taxes at 10% would be
paying 25%. Additionally, children born today would pay $175,000 each
through the course of their lifetime to fund the big three entitlement
programs alone if nothing changes. We need fundamental change in the
budget process. This doesn’t mean we must dispose of entitlement
programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. To the contrary,
they have been great tools in providing appropriate standards of living
for our senior citizens and poor families. It simply means that we have
failed to make the necessary steps to reform and modernize these systems
so that they work for us in the 21st century, and we must do something
to change our entitlement system.
Congress must enact long-term budgets for programs like Medicare,
Medicaid, and Social Security that are sustainable. Entitlement spending
as a percentage of the federal budget has doubled over the past 30
years. We must take entitlement spending off of autopilot, review the
programs on a regular schedule, and set limits on automatic spending
growth. Currently, these three programs are left out of the budgeting
process because they are considered “predetermined spending.” This
fundamentally flawed outlook has caused us to lose control over
entitlement spending. They should be subject to review every five years,
allowing us to evaluate and consider program changes, and make
appropriate adjustments, while still maintaining stability in the
programs for those individuals who depend heavily on them in their daily
lives.
Leadership in Washington has been avoiding the issue at a time when it
is most vital that we begin to address it, despite warnings from the
Federal Reserve chairman and trustees from the Medicare and Social
Security programs. We have recently begun to see the first of 77 million
baby boomers retire. As a result, entitlement spending is growing and
adding significantly greater pressure on the federal budget. Congress
has a responsibility to the American people to rein in entitlement
spending, and our already delayed action should create even greater
motivation to act now.
I have cosponsored
H.J.Res.1, which proposes a balanced budget amendment
to the United States Constitution. This legislation would force Congress
to enact fiscally responsible spending measures, reduce the deficit, and
ensure that the money our citizens work so hard to earn is spent
responsibly.
Additionally, I am a cosponsor of the Securing America's Future Economy
(SAFE) Commission Act, or
H.R. 473, which would establish a commission
to investigate entitlement spending, tax policy and all federal spending
and address the long-term problems facing our country such as
foreign-held debt, solvency of Social Security and Medicare, increasing
individual savings, and reforming entitlement programs to serve the most
needy.
I believe in keeping the promises made to provide quality care and
services to our senior citizens and poor families. I also believe in
operating on a balanced budget. There is a way to do both, and it is
vital that we do so for our national economy. Even if you project your
personal budget over the next six months or year, you still have to
reconcile your differences each month so that you don’t overspend.
Likewise, as a federal government we need to make regular reviews of our
budgeted programs so that we are carefully monitoring our spending and
consistently being good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars.
The Patients First Act
Congressman Forbes recently hosted a briefing for Members of Congress
and staff on breakthroughs in stem cell research.
Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University School of Medicine briefed
the audience on the dramatic success he has seen when treating patients
with therapies derived from their own adult stem cells.
Patients who had previously suffered from Scleroderma, Multiple
Sclerosis, and Lupus gave testimonials about their health conditions,
treatment and subsequent remission. Dr. Burt expressed concern that the
medical research community has focused more on embryonic stem cells than
on adult stem cells even though the vast body of evidence shows that
more promise lies with adult stem cell therapies.
In June 2007, Congressman Forbes introduced
H.R.
2807, the Patients First Act, which would prioritize funding for
adult stem cell research. Specifically, the Patients First Act would
promote innovative research by supporting the creation of pluripotent
stem cell lines without destroying human embryos, and it would direct
more funding for stem cell research that has the best chance of
producing treatments for patients.
Click the photo below to watch a video on the briefing and the Patients
First Act.
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