The GOP presidential debate yesterday contained a segment about the fiscal problems facing our country. The moderator sighted the Comptroller General warnings about the debt and continued budget imbalance as well as the coming problems with funding Medicare and Social Security. The GOP candidates agreed with the assessment of the Comptroller General that we have created a very serious problem. However when the questions of how to deal with this were pursued it became clear none of the GOP candidates have a CLUE!
On one hand they admit it is a major problem and then blame it on entitlements. That showed either a complete misunderstanding of the problem or a refusal to face the real cause which has NOT been entitlements i.e. Social Security and Medicare thru 2007. Both these entitlements have produced an annual SURPLUS which has been used to finance the deficit in the discretionary portion of the budget. None of the $9 Trillion dollars of debt comes from either Social Security or Medicare.The problem with entitlements is in the FUTURE. The coming problem with entitlement will be ON TOP of the problems created by the discretionary spending that has exceeded tax revenue since 1981. The candidates also claim we can solve the problem without any real sacrifice and propose to cut federal revenue more with additional tax cuts. That is not true and is totally opposite to what The Comptroller General has documented. The solution to BOTH the existing $9 Trillion dollar deficit and the coming problem of entitlements as the Baby Boomers retire will require MAJOR sacrifices by Americans.
ALL the GOP Presidential candidates are in denial as to the extent and solutions that will be needed to address the growing financial storm on the horizon. To all this must be added the huge trade deficit and falling value of the dollar as well as the energy situation. We also heard the same refrain that the “Market” will solve the energy problems and that we do not need government policies to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. There was the admission of the problems created by OUR dependence on foreign oil but the same old refrain of the “Free Market” will provide the solution. If that were true, why is the energy problem for the United States getting worse every year? The truth is to solve the energy problem we need to have both government incentive and penalties that move forward domestically controlled alternative energy supplies and far more efficient use of oil including higher mileage for cars, trucks and SUV’s. Most of the GOP candidates admit their policies over the past 7 years have failed but at the same time they proposed, for the most part, to continue those same policies with only minor changes. If you are looking to solve the fiscal, trade and energy problems NONE of the GOP candidates are for you!