Levy: Unsustainable growth will collapse Medicaid
By: Steve Levy
Since the passage of the 2025 Reconciliation Bill, much debate has ensued as to whether the provisions of the act will result in significant damage to the Medicaid system. However, as our Center for Cost Effective Government study concludes, the case could be made that these reforms are a necessary component of actually saving the Medicaid system.
Had we adopted proposals from the 1990s, the trust fund would be richer today
by Steve Levy
When the Social Security system was established in 1935, it had 42 workers for every retiree. Today, the ratio is a mere 2-to-3. At this rate, the system must reduce benefits to every retiree by about 21% in 2033 if nothing is done to shore it up.
Proposed fixes include significant tax increases on all taxpayers, raising the retirement age and further taxing Social Security recipients. Each of these options would be painful.
There is a better way.
By Steve Levy Friday, 03 January 2025 12:42 PM EST Current | Bio | Archive
The most recent budget extension drama played out on Capitol Hill highlighted the continued controversy revolving around the debt ceiling.
If we as a nation are to solve our enormous debt and spending dilemma, we must first understand what the debt ceiling is — and is not.
Every once in a while, you come across a statistic that encapsulates everything you have to know as to how dramatically America is changing.
One such stat from a report issued by the Economic Innovation Group illustrates how dependent Americans are becoming on government…..
Read more below with the attached link
https://www.newsmax.com/stevelevy/entitlements-jobs-pandemic/2024/10/30/id/1186057
Any American with an ounce of common sense understands that federal spending is out of control. A $31 trillion debt level and yearly deficits now regularly in the trillions is a recipe for fiscal disaster. If we keep this up, it’s not a matter of if we collapse, but when and how hard.
So we totally agree with Republicans in the House who want to stand firm and draw a line in the sand.
But we think there’s a better way of doing it than holding up extensions to the debt ceiling.
We do not agree with past actions that brought us to this debt level. Congress
members on both sides of the aisle should never have let it get to this level.
Republicans talk a good game but spent quite extravagantly when fellow Republican Donald
Trump was in office.
Yet, despite the willingness of Republicans to spend, spend, spend, they’re nowhere near as
bad as the Democrats in Congress. Since Joe Biden came into office, an astonishing $6 trillion
has been spent by the Democrats who controlled the house, the Senate and the White House.
And this was after the economy had generally recovered from the COVID slide.
So there is indeed an urgent need to pump the brakes on spending. The problem with using the
debt ceiling as the basis to do so is that this is money that Congress has already voted to
spend. Not agreeing to raise the debt ceiling to pay for it would, in essence, put us in default,
threaten our credit ratings, and likely lead to a drop in most people’s 401(k)s.
The bigger question is how this crazy system was ever developed in the first place, whereby we
agree to spend money now but don’t agree to pay for it until a later day to be determined. This is
absolutely absurd. So here are four solutions:
1…..In exchange for raising the debt ceiling, Republicans should require Democrats to join them
in changing this atrocious system so that no spending in the future can take place without a
simultaneous agreement to have it paid for, even if it’s through borrowing.
End the political games on gerrymandering.
Our center has long criticized both major parties for the political games they play in practicing gerrymandering, the politically motivated redrawing of legislative district lines.
| 10/12/20 Islip minorities finally to get some representation. Last week it was announced that the town of Islip has settled the lawsuit brought by a number of citizen based groups, seeking to replace the at large system of electing council people to a councilmanic system. The new councilmanic system will elect members from one of four council districts throughout the town. Our center has long supported this type of system that is closest to the people. The settlement is a victory for those who have lamented the fact that Hispanics, who comprise 1/3 of the town’s 300,000 people, have never had a representative on the town board. Think of how things might’ve been different had there been a specific representative from the areas of Brentwood and Central Islip when dumping was occurring in their parks. Like a county legislator’s district, a council district is small enough for an underfunded candidate to get his or her message out. At large systems require candidates to be more beholden to party leaders and special interests to get their funding for the campaign. A candidate needs four times the amount of money to communicate with voters in an at-large system than in a council district. It’s one of the reasons why all of the present people on the council reside south of Sunrise Highway and not one is a person of color. The representatives from these areas may be hard-working and well-meaning, but isn’t it time that folks from other parts of the town, especially the traditionally underserved areas, have someone from their neighborhood providing input? Kudos to attorney Fred Brewington, who brought this suit. He was a former guest speaker at our Center. The best democracy is that which is closest to the people. |