Obama’s High Speed Fiscal Train Wreck

Guest post by Duke

Did you ever think that an editorial in the Wall Street Journal would intersect with USA Today? Me neither, but that’s what happened today. A Wall Street Journal editorial recognized what most Americans already know; If you like your insurance, you may not be able to keep it. It also exposes another lie that was used to pass Obamacare. Remember the claim that is reduced the deficit? The bloom is now officially off the rose. A survey by McKinsey & Company found that up to 50% of employers say they will definitely or probably, seek “alternatives to their current health-insurance plan.” Before Obamacare passed, the CBO estimated that 9-10 million would have to move to the government subsidized insurance exchange. The McKinsey survey suggests that that estimate is woefully low. A McKinsey analyst told healthcare executives last year that “something in the range of 80-100 million individuals would change coverage after the individual mandate takes effect.” Earlier estimates suggested that the 35 million would move to the exchanges, costing the American taxpayer $1 trillion dollars! If the McKinsey is correct, the increase in the deficit could be up to $2.9 trillion.

So, what is the connection to USA Today? They discuss the growing “unfunded obligations.” These include Medicare, Social Security, Federal Debt, Military retirement/disability, Federal employee retirement benefits and State and Local government obligations. These obligations total $61.6 trillion, and are growing faster that our economy. As USA Today points out, Medicare took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, last year! Social Security added $1.4 trillion. What does this mean for the average American? The $61.6 trillion in unfunded obligations amounts to $527,000 per household.

This begs a few questions; why don’t we repeal Obamacare, which was sold as a way to reduce our deficits? And, why don’t we embrace entitlement reform to make sure that these programs are around for those who need it. As Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says,

"What people will eventually understand is that the real enemies of Medicare, the real enemies of Social Security, are these people who are saying leave them as they are. They will explode, or implode."

The Democrats will claim that this is “scare tactics.” In reality, they don’t want to own up to the reality because it damages their ability to grow the nanny state.