Is this a portent of things to come?
"We the people" is often used when we talk about
liberty and justice for all. It is not a
phrase used very often when we talk about things that are not so noble, such as deficit
spending. When we talk about deficit spending,
we use "the government" as if somehow we can separate and/or distance
ourselves from the responsibility. Well
"we the people" had a budget of $3.7 trillion dollars in 2015. Do you have any idea where most of the money
went? I am going to switch from "we the people" to "the government" below, notice how it seems to lessen the seriousness of it all.
The budget that "we the people" had in 2015 can be
broken down into 3 broad categories; Discretional spending, Mandatory Spending,
and interest. I am not going to go into
a long civics lesson here, but there was something significant that happened in
2015.
For the first time in history, the United States government
spent more on health care than it did on Social Security. Up until 2015, social security had been the
largest single budget item. In 2015 the
government spent $936 billion on health care while it only spent $882 billion
on social security. This is according
the a recent report
issued by the congressional budget office.
Why is this so important?
The significance is revealed when you realize that when compared to
2014, the expenditures on health care which included, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance
Program, and Affordable Care Act subsidies was 13% higher in 2015. At a 13% annual increase, the cost of health
care will double every 5.5 years. Put a
different way, spending on health care will consume the entire US budget
somewhere between 2026 and 2031. That is
only 10-15 years away.
With this as a back drop, I want to ask
you a few questions.
1)
Will the government renege on some of it promises?
2) Where will the government get the
money to make sure the answer to question 1 is a "no?"
3) Do you think congress will raise
taxes to avoid a "yes" answer to question #1?
4) What is the best way to protect your
hard earned money from higher taxation?
5) Is there a way to make sure you and
your family will be able to afford quality health care?
6) Will benefits be decreased in such a
way to make it appear the answer to #1 is still a "no?"
7) Is there a way to position yourself
to not only survive this coming storm, but to profit from it?
