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“We’re going to have to have some hard decisions. We got to bring the Democrats in to talk about Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.” -U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.)
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | I am a fiscal conservative and social issues liberal. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are running long-term deficits. Clearly, Rich McCormick, a physician who represents Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, is correct in one respect. These programs do need bipartisan reform.
Then, he goes on to state in his Fox TV interview: “There’s hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved.” Again, he may be correct. Further, he says that when it comes to “cutting the budget, I’m all about that.” OK, I am also all for systemic reform… when it has been proven to work.
But then, he goes on to indicate that he refuses to endorse cutting the bloated U.S. defense budget. So, are there not hundreds of billions that could be saved by spending our defense money more prudently? What about halting federal contracting for items that are not requested by our military, but added by politicos? And stopping wasteful “cost plus” contracting, which promotes companies running up expenses?
What about our ridiculously expensive NASA efforts? What is the ROI?
I understand McCormick’s real position on expenditures. His view is ideological, not fiscal, just wanting social programs reduced while leaving other areas of waste alone.
Further, as someone who has worked in high level government and corporate budgeting, I understand one basic tenet. To balance a budget, any public or private organization must examine both expenses and revenues. But McCormick never even mentions the possibility of increasing revenues (i.e., taxes) to pay for these social programs. McCormick’s view is not a bipartisan position.
McCormick and his ilk on both sides of the aisle are the core of the problem. They hypocritically state that they want to work with the other side to come up with a solution. And then they completely refuse to consider any reasonable compromise
Looking at the Medicare and Medicaid systemic issues aspects of the equation, the USA has much higher per capita healthcare costs than any other nation. And outcomes which are generally worse than other democracies. A major factor driving this situation is our irrational, multi-party payer system.
For a decade, Donald Trump has kept saying he has a reform plan. In his first term, his irrational plan was to do away with the popular Affordable Care Act, without any alternative. Thanks to John McCain, that failed (thank you to the last real Republican). If the new president has a better plan this time around, let’s hear it.
The Democratic Party is not much better. On one hand, it is afraid to be labeled “socialist”, so it will not push a European type of reform plan (like Medicare for all), the obvious solution given that their outcomes are better and produced at a fraction of our cost.
Party leaders, led by President Biden, generally run away from endorsing Medicare for all like it is the plague.
Regarding Social Security, no one enjoys paying more taxes. But there is a simple solution that does not require benefit cuts. Remove the limit on taxable income for social security ($168,600 in 2024). That one action alone will make the program solvent.
Surely the Elon Musks and Donald Trumps of the world can certainly afford it.
So, yes, we do need bipartisan support to address budget shortfalls. But McCormick is not pointing us in the right direction.
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