Entitlement Spending

Sweeping public approval of entitlement spending hinders cutbacks. Spending on entitlement programs in the United States is heavily backed by public opinion. A recent Pew poll showed that 79 percent of Americans feel that Social Security’s impact on the nation is “good.” [i] From a moral perspective, the payments laid out for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid work to improve our society. Social Security ensures that our retired, disabled, and other less fortunate groups do not fall into poverty, and our health care system provides us equitable access to

quality medical treatment. The problem that arises, however, is the increasingly growing demand for these entitlement benefits. As the aging Baby Boom generation retires, entitlement recipients will significantly increase. In addition, the rising demand can be attributed to America’s growing dependence on these programs. Supporting this idea economist Alan Schick notes, “The fact that so much of the budget is spent on entitlements speaks to a transformation in its role in American life. For many people, the budget is the main determinant of their financial well-being.” Furthermore, with specific regard to health care, the demand per beneficiary is rising.

The pressure on politicians to meet this demand is relentless. With regard to social security, this is due to a sense of ownership that taxpayers hold for the program. Focusing on health care, political difficulty lies in the argument for fiscal responsibility posed against the belief that we carry a moral responsibility to provide our population with health care. Cutting health care benefits after citizens have paid into the system their whole lives is a morally challenging position to take, appearing to disregard physical suffering of the elderly. This places tremendous influence on politicians not only to avoid cuts in health care spending, but in fact to increase it.

The fact is evident that entitlement benefits do impart positive effects on our society. However, they do not come without a cost. Hard opposition to cuts in these programs and demand for increased benefits are clearly another factor leading us away from the issue of the federal budget deficit.

Conclusion

The growing federal budget deficit will at the very least pose serious future economic problems. The fact that it must be solved politically entails that American society must become more aware of the issue in order to sway politicians. However, as we have addressed, it appears as though Americans are more concerned with their immediate benefits rather than our economic future. Until a greater amount of public concern is expressed regarding the deficit, politics will overlook the issue, progress toward a solution will be hindered, and our economy will continue to be threatened. Journalist David Wessel may have put it best; "politics are not on the side of fixing this problem.”