NYT’s Keller gets it half-right on need to reform entitlements
In a column addressed to his fellow baby boomers (sorry, this Gen-Xer peeked anyway!) New York Times columnist Bill Keller says one way for his generation to shed its reputation of entitlement and selfishness is, well, to be less selfish about entitlements.
He refers to a study by the Democratic think tank Third Way that examines the tremendous growth of, as Keller puts it, the federal government’s “safety-net programs that provide a measure of economic stability for the aging and poor: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.” The growth of this spending, he and Third Way argue, is crowding out federal spending for “‘investments,’ which includes maintaining our national infrastructure, keeping our military equipped, helping assure that our work force is educated to a high standard, and underwriting the kind of basic scientific research that is too risky or long-term to attract private money.”
The answer, he suggests, is for liberals to embrace reforms of the entitlement programs. I agree with his conclusion, but there’s an important misperception to correct along the way.
Here’s how Keller summarizes Third Way’s findings:
In 1962, we were laying down the foundations of prosperity. About 32 cents of every federal dollar, excluding interest payments, was spent on investments, only 14 percent on entitlements. In the mid-70s the lines crossed. Today we spend less than 15 cents on investment and 46 cents on entitlements. And it gets worse. By 2030, when the last of us boomers have surged onto the Social Security rolls, entitlements will consume 61 cents of every federal dollar, starving our already neglected investment and leaving us, in the words of the study, with “a less-skilled work force, lower rates of job creation, and an infrastructure unfit for a 21st-century economy.”
Sounds pretty bleak for “investments,” huh?
But what these figures obscure is that spending on Third Way’s “investments” category — adjusted for inflation and population growth — has in fact increased significantly during the past 50 years.
How can that be?
Start with the fact that, in 1962, federal spending (see Table 8.4) minus net interest payments equaled 17.6 percent of gross domestic product, or GDP. In 2012, it’s expected to hit 22.9 percent of GDP. So federal spending as a share of the economy is higher today by almost one-third.
Then move on to the fact that GDP, adjusted for inflation, is nearly 4.5 times larger today: Annualized, it stood at $13.56 trillion in the second quarter of 2012 (the most recent data available) compared to $3.06 trillion in the same three months of 1962.
Finally, consider that our population has grown by only about 70 percent during the past half century: from 186.5 million to 314.4 million (note: the Census Bureau has not yet released its estimate for July 1, 2012, so I took the figure for a year earlier and applied the same growth rate the Census Bureau applied for 2010 to 2011; my number ought to be pretty close to the eventual Census estimate, or at least close enough for today’s exercise).
Run the numbers, including Third Way’s calculations of “investments” and “entitlements” as percentages of the federal budget, and here’s what you get:
Inflation-adjusted, per capita federal spending
So, while it’s true that entitlement spending has grown massively since JFK’s presidency — by more than 1,000 percent on a real per capita basis — it’s also true that real per capita spending on that group of “investments” has grown by 60 percent. Not too shabby. Viewed similarly, spending on everything else (besides net interest payments) has also soared by almost 150 percent.
To reiterate: I agree with Keller and Third Way that entitlement reform is desperately needed. And I join them in urging boomers, particularly those of the liberal persuasion, to be open to such changes. Where I part company with them is in the reason this needs to happen.
It’s not to spend more money elsewhere in the federal budget, but to free the economy from the burden of all excessive federal spending.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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Hillbilly D
July 31st, 2012
6:12 pm
Just saw a blue tailed skink eat a baby skink. It was disgusting. The little guy didn’t have a chance.
The strong eat the weak. Life ain’t for the faint hearted, especially if you ain’t a human.
I’m just a po’ Hillbilly-Swamp Rat from a cotton patch in North Mississippi..
And please don’t throw you in the briarpatch?
Sick of Progs
July 31st, 2012
6:14 pm
Piedmont South from North Georgia
July 31st, 2012
6:10 pm
Well, if the government stops running we will all die – or at least something bad will happen
Too funny. I guess spending would go down!
That Black guy
July 31st, 2012
6:14 pm
Bruno
July 31st, 2012
5:50 pm
You know, calling the President names does not help your position. People are more apt to consider your arguements when they don’t contain insults.
TBG–As I like to say, some of the Cons here do more harm to the conservative cause with their boorish ways than any Lib could ever dream of doing. —Don’t I know it Bruno.
Some old school for you, Brother. Taking you back to Buena Regional HS in the mid 70s. Man we had it good: — Can’t open it at work, I’ll check it out when I get home.
Michael H. Smith
July 31st, 2012
6:14 pm
Later folks got to watch the election returns.
They BOTH suck
July 31st, 2012
6:14 pm
Michael H Smith
You must be the GA President of the Glenn Beck fan club.
hhahahahahaha
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
July 31st, 2012
6:16 pm
“Why is it so important to you to keep government running other than national defense and infrastructure spending??”
Well. I like having my edible food products inspected every day. I like the fact that the CDC is up and running – just in case…..
josef
July 31st, 2012
6:16 pm
HILLBILLY
Tar Baby don’ say nuthin’
Bruno
July 31st, 2012
6:17 pm
Gotta run…….PB is here.
Catch you all tomorrow.
They BOTH suck
July 31st, 2012
6:17 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCY2DW6NBxI
They BOTH suck
July 31st, 2012
6:17 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXcGt-R19uI
md
July 31st, 2012
6:18 pm
“They are the Party of No.”
Might want to refresh your memory on the Fannie/Freddie reform bill of 2003. Not saying it was a silver bullet to stop the collapse, but since the dems stopped it dead in it’s tracks we will never know….will we?
The 2 party system of “no” didn’t start yesterday…..unless one just woke up to politics and failed to do a bit of research.
That Black guy
July 31st, 2012
6:18 pm
Michael H. Smith
July 31st, 2012
5:57 pm
You know, calling the President names does not help your position. People are more apt to consider your arguements when they don’t contain insults.
IMO
Oh you mean like 99.999% of the insults, inferences, insinuations and innuendos contained in the comments posted on this blog that are made by Leftwing Marxist Fascist Socialist Liberals a.k.a. pee-gressive democrats and nearly every “obumer”(sic) dullard-neophyte-supporter ?
Yeah, thought so…
TIA, just wanted to keep the record straight
___________________________________________________
Yes, Michael, like that.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
July 31st, 2012
6:19 pm
You mean you don’t like lead in your child’s toys? And of course, we know that so many companies would voluntarily recall their products if defective, nothing at all to do with Consumer Safety.
That Black guy
July 31st, 2012
6:21 pm
Sick of Progs
July 31st, 2012
5:58 pm
After all, the Senate went for the Republican healthcare ideas – What ideas did the majority of republicans decide souuld be in the PPACA?
What does ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^this…
Have to do with vvvvvvvvvvvv this?
The dems got spanked in the election because their only rhetoric is stimulus makes jobs. Apparently, a-lot of voters don’t agree. Suck it up and admit stimulus is not the solution. Failed public education and the entitlement mentality are crushing this country.
That Black guy
July 31st, 2012
6:22 pm
Never can tell
July 31st, 2012
6:02 pm
Hillbilly D
July 31st, 2012
6:23 pm
josef @ 6:16
I think the Uncle Remus Tales and the Pogo comic strip should be required reading for everybody before they turn 18.
md
July 31st, 2012
6:25 pm
” I like the fact that the CDC is up and running – just in case…..”
The bigger concern might be the superbug they are creating that gets away vs what nature has in store for us…….
Disease is there for a reason……the resources to sustain life on planet earth are finite…….
Keep Up the Good Fight!
July 31st, 2012
6:28 pm
Speaking of nutria, Is HD a star on that new show Rat Barstards (that should slip by the blue nose) on Spike?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 31st, 2012
6:29 pm
Sick of Progs – Excellent commentary. Progressives, or what ever cowardly name they are hiding behind today, are like the filth that builds up in the gutter when the raggedy ass government street sweeper is in repair or it’s operator is taking one of his many sick days. Decent people recoil in disgust when they happen upon such things. Call it what you will – trash, garbage, disease, pestilence, the libs got it covered.
Never can tell
July 31st, 2012
6:32 pm
“or what ever cowardly name they are hiding behind today”
You must be a big time military hero. Tell us about your service that is unless you are just talking big behind a keyboard to hide a “cowardly” demeanor in real life
Keep Up the Good Fight!
July 31st, 2012
6:32 pm
Ummm… IRYW, we call it caring and living up to the ideals of the Founding Fathers. With all that anger, you might want to learn to direct it into something positive before you hurt yourself.
josef
July 31st, 2012
6:32 pm
HILLBILLY
I much agree. When I’m introducing my Spanish kids to the African element of the American cultures, I have them read selections from the Uncle Remus stories and Costa Rican Carmen Lyra’s “Cuentos de mi Tia Panchita” and have them do a comparative analysis with the West African folktales…
And Pogo? Before he read anything else in a day’s study, Granddaddy always read Pogo,,,
And the Olympics? One of the reason I hold that bunch in such low regard comes from the Georgia bunch’s refusal to adopt Pogo as the mascot…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 31st, 2012
6:33 pm
7th Infantry Division, punk.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 31st, 2012
6:34 pm
Doom has a new sock-puppet.
I always knew he was sick.
Never can tell
July 31st, 2012
6:34 pm
I report
You posts bring new meaning to “BIG HAT, NO CATTLE”
Nothing but wind. No substance, no backbone, nothing.
Tough guy in your own mind and probably not even in the deepest part of your mind…… where the truth resides
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 31st, 2012
6:35 pm
Keep up the Mental Blight!- The founding fathers would have vomited upon the sight of what you people have wrought.
Please, do not blaspheme their good name again.
Never can tell
July 31st, 2012
6:35 pm
I report
Watch the childish name calling.
Have a great night
Hillbilly D
July 31st, 2012
6:36 pm
Keep @ 6:28
Among people who actually know me, my hatred of being in front of a camera is legendary.
josef
As somebody said at the time, that Izzy thing looked like a slug with teeth. If not Pogo, the mascot should at least have been a generic possum.
JDW
July 31st, 2012
6:36 pm
@Whiner…”Sick of Progs – Excellent commentary. Progressives, or what ever cowardly name they are hiding behind today, are like the filth that builds up in the gutter when the raggedy ass government street sweeper is in repair or it’s operator is taking one of his many sick days. Decent people recoil in disgust when they happen upon such things. Call it what you will – trash, garbage, disease, pestilence, the libs got it covered.”
My but aren’t you the Good Christian.
@@
July 31st, 2012
6:37 pm
Interesting given F&F’s past history.
(Reuters) – The top housing regulator rebuffed a plan by the Obama administration to cut mortgages held by struggling homeowners, a blow to the White House which is keen to show voters it can help fix the housing market.
The regulator for government-run housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Tuesday that using taxpayer-funded bank bailout money could encourage defaults and not make a big improvement in reducing foreclosures in a cost-effective way for taxpayers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-usa-housing-regulator-idUSBRE86U19920120731
Numbers-R-US
July 31st, 2012
6:37 pm
C’mon, who are you fooling, josef?? $25K in stocks is chump change to you and Unmentionable. Let the man crow on.
That’s right. But according to josef, it’s tacky. Perhaps I should have said $250,000 trade in the first person. Or better yet, I should have said something like, “I heard from a friend that he heard while at the doctor’s office, a patient talking about how she made a $100,000 trade and did not have to pay any capital gains tax on the gains.” That impersonal and much removed from the first person speak really makes all the difference, don’t it.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
July 31st, 2012
6:40 pm
Yes, IRYW, I am sure a few of them founding fathers would be socialist no-goods in your eyes…. no telling what you would be saying about John Adams defending Brit soldiers or the views of Alexander Hamilton.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 31st, 2012
6:40 pm
“and living up to the ideals of the Founding Fathers.”
Liberals are generally unqualified to speak about the ideals of the Founding Fathers.
Numbers-R-US
July 31st, 2012
6:41 pm
When I’m introducing my Spanish kids to the African element of the American cultures, I have them read selections from the Uncle Remus stories and Costa Rican Carmen Lyra’s “Cuentos de mi Tia Panchita” and have them do a comparative analysis with the West African folktales…
You and “YOUR” Spanish kids. The African element… at least there was no mention of your finances. That makes it all good. What’s a “Spanish kid” anyway.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 31st, 2012
6:41 pm
I’m sorry, which political party approves of two men having sex with each other? I do not believe the founding fathers, or any other decent people for that matter, were very fond of such doings. Only in this new age of disorder and pathology do we cherish such disgusting things. And I can finger the one peoples that are doing it.
Animals.
josef
July 31st, 2012
6:42 pm
HILLBILLY
Unmentionable claimed that Izzy was anti-Semitic!
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
July 31st, 2012
6:43 pm
Only one party will reform entitlements–the one that doesn’t use them to buy the votes of the slothful, the lazy, the irresponsible, and the ignorant.
Vote Republican.
Vote American.
Same thing.
That Black guy
July 31st, 2012
6:43 pm
TBS, what’s up my man?
Did you get the email I sent you?
josef
July 31st, 2012
6:44 pm
NUMBERS
One of the subjects I teach is Spanish…thus my Spanish kids…..
JDW
July 31st, 2012
6:45 pm
@Tiberius…”Liberals are generally unqualified to speak about the ideals of the Founding Fathers.”
And yet the Founding Fathers were so liberal they revolted.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
July 31st, 2012
6:45 pm
I’m sorry, which political party approves of two men having sex with each other? I do not believe the founding fathers, or any other decent people for that matter, were very fond of such doings. Only in this new age of disorder and pathology do we cherish such disgusting things.
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
– Thomas Jefferson
That Black guy
July 31st, 2012
6:45 pm
They BOTH suck
July 31st, 2012
6:14 pm
Michael H Smith
You must be the GA President of the Glenn Beck fan club.
___________________________________________________
I watched beck for about a month.
I felt so much better about life when I stopped.
Hillbilly D
July 31st, 2012
6:46 pm
no telling what you would be saying about John Adams defending Brit soldiers or the views of Alexander Hamilton.
I’m not much of a fan of either of those two, myself. I’m more from the Jefferson/Patrick Henry view of things, even though Jefferson hated Henry so much he sat out arguments he should’ve gotten involved in. I prefer their vision of what would should be over Hamilton’s.
Never can tell
July 31st, 2012
6:46 pm
“Liberals are generally unqualified to speak about the ideals of the Founding Fathers.”
Award for the stupidest post of the day.
Kyle get this man a Gold Star sent out 1st thing in the morning
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 31st, 2012
6:47 pm
“And yet the Founding Fathers were so OPPRESSED they revolted.”
Fixed your typo, JDW. No thanks needed.
Bone up on your American History, will ya?
Numbers-R-US
July 31st, 2012
6:48 pm
Might want to refresh your memory on the Fannie/Freddie reform bill of 2003.
You might wish to introduce that topic but it has nothing to do with my post. The party of no label applies quite well with regard to the Republicans and their failure to pass a single jobs bill for the President’s signature even though they campaigned on jobs as a reason why people should vote for them. Republicans failed to deliver on their campaign rhetoric and what do they do about it. Nothing. In fact, they’ll probably campaign on it again and claim that the Democrats failed to deliver jobs when in fact it was the Republicans that failed to deliver the jobs per their campaign rhetoric.
They BOTH suck
July 31st, 2012
6:48 pm
TBG
What’s up?
Beck is like listening to George Shultz on the left. Tons of hyperbole and bs for the mindless
Keep Up the Good Fight!
July 31st, 2012
6:48 pm
Hmmmm… Seems rumors are some of the founding fathers were gay. http://www.bilerico.com/2009/12/the_other_founding_fathers.php
But of course, real ‘mericans know that no was was ever homosexual before that dang FDR was elected, right?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 31st, 2012
6:49 pm
Never can tell, it is generally difficult to comment on that which you have no understanding.
Thus, my comment is absolutely correct.
getalife
July 31st, 2012
6:49 pm
“This country is done bud.”
We are not done unless we return the gop back to power.