Why we can’t cut federal spending

Bruce Bartlett, Forbes columnist and author of the soon-to-be-released book "The New American Economy: The Failure of Reagonomics and a New Way Forward," says every time he writes about the need to raise revenues to pay for federal spending, some nitwit always demands to know why we don't just cut spending.

Bartlett says in his column, "Why We Can't Cut Spending," that the votes aren’t there.

Congress determines how the federal budget is spent, he says, adding the president has little discretion in the matter. He must spend federal money as the Congress sets out.

Last year, $456 billion was spent on Medicare, and it’s the fastest growing major government program.

Bartlett says in his column:

How likely is it that the people protesting Obama's Medicare cuts will stand with Republicans if they propose cutting that program even more to balance the budget? They will switch sides in an instant. The elderly will fight anyone who tries to cut their benefits even as they hypocritically demand fiscal responsibility and rant about the national debt. The elderly are the reason why we have a national debt.

And the number of older people is growing in number. Bartlett reports:

In 1980, those over age 65 constituted 11.3 percent of the population. Today they represent 13 percent, a figure that will rise to 16 percent in 2020 with the aging of the baby boomers and increasing longevity, 19.3 percent in 2030 and 20 percent in 2040, according to Census Bureau projections.

In addition, older people are a rising portion of the electorate. He says:

Back when Medicare was established, those over 65 constituted 15.8 percent of voters. Last year, they made up 19.5 percent. This is due to the rising percentage of elderly in the population and their increasing propensity to vote. In 2008, 72 percent of those between the ages of 65 and 74 reported voting while only 48.5 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 did.

Bartlett says in summary:

In short, there is no evidence that it is politically possible to cut spending enough to make more than a trivial difference in our nation's fiscal problems. The votes aren't there and never will be. Those who continue to insist otherwise are living in a dream world and deserve no attention from serious people.

I found the link to this interesting article on The Boomer Blog.