Hiltzik: 5 Biggest Lies About Entitlements

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times presents "the five biggest lies you're being told about entitlement programs." Item three on his list: "Social Security and Medicare are $60 trillion in the hole. As efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare gather steam in the budget wrangling in Washington, you'll hear these mega-trillions being thrown around more and more. Beware. They're numbers designed to terrify, not edify."

Posted by rcade at 05:47 PM | 37 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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rcade

Joined 2003/04/04
Visited 2013/05/19

Status: editor

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Comments

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"Social Security and Medicare are $60 trillion in the hole."

Apparently it is a lie Hiltzik made up himself. Never heard that one. There is currently $43 trillion in liabilities and obligations in the two programs.

"The payroll tax hike is killing the retail economy"

Yet another lie no one except Hiltzik heard of. The reports say it is hurting middle and especially lower classes which is true.

"Entitlement" benefits for millionaires and billionaires are a costly problem."

This lie must have come from MSDNC.

"You're paying too much (or too little) for your benefits."

Stuck in the article just to have a nice figure like "five".

"Medicare, Social Security -- it's all the same."

And the final lie only Hiltzik has heard of. The only thing that is the same is that they are both run by that mega-corporation we call the US Government....and not very well I might add.

#1 | Posted by KBM at 2013-03-10 07:17 PM | Reply | Flag:

KBM's drive-by came early. Slow news day I guess.

#2 | Posted by snoofy at 2013-03-10 07:39 PM | Reply | Flag:

KBM's drive-by came early. Slow news day I guess.

#2 | Posted by snoofy at

I fine it best to just ignore him sense he never had any relevant comment to make

#3 | Posted by PunchyPossum at 2013-03-10 07:43 PM | Reply | Flag:

" There is currently $43 trillion in liabilities and obligations in the two programs."

Same dishonest talking point with just a slightly lower number, it is still a lie.

#4 | Posted by danni at 2013-03-10 07:49 PM | Reply | Flag:

it is still a lie.

I guess you will be continuing to say that all the way until the programs cease to exist due to running out of money, right?

I can still hear you saying that as the programs go bankrupt.

#5 | Posted by boaz at 2013-03-10 08:46 PM | Reply | Flag:

The biggest lie is probably that people are entitled to entitlements, without actually paying the total amount required for funding.

how popular would medicare be if the amount you paid in was reflective of future benefits to be paid out.

#6 | Posted by madbomber at 2013-03-10 08:56 PM | Reply | Flag:

"how popular would medicare be if the amount you paid in was reflective of future benefits to be paid out."

Let younger and healthier folks buy in and it will be solvent, probably even profitable, for many decades. Ooooh can't do that, it would go against the ridiculous idea that healthcare should be based on the profit motivator.

#7 | Posted by danni at 2013-03-10 09:06 PM | Reply | Flag:

Let younger and healthier folks buy in and it will be solvent

Keep that pyramid scheme going! That problem is Danni, each and every generation would have to contribute more than the last to take care of the last who is old and taking bigger and bigger pieces of the pie.

#8 | Posted by boaz at 2013-03-10 09:35 PM | Reply | Flag:

"Let younger and healthier folks buy in and it will be solvent, probably even profitable, for many decades."

It's medicare. You don't have a choice to buy in or not. It's compulsory.

#9 | Posted by madbomber at 2013-03-10 09:48 PM | Reply | Flag:

"With the current social thought in government, inflation is the only way out. The Fed is quietly doing this, and the White House is quietly covering it up by fudging the numbers. 'it will hit the fan when the stock market bubble bursts. But then the White House will use this to say that saver's have to be protected, and will nationalize our retirement accounts into government bonds. Lady Liberty lies dying on the ground, repeatedly mugged and raped by the socialists among us."

www.ft.com

Don't listen to the ideolog shills like Danni. btw

#10 | Posted by RIGHTPOLICY at 2013-03-10 10:59 PM | Reply | Flag:

" inflation is the only way out."

Riiiiiiggggghhhhhtt. Let's all hold hands and sing Kum-bay-yah with Fox "News".

What a joke.

#11 | Posted by Harry_Powell at 2013-03-10 11:27 PM | Reply | Flag:

The right is a well organized, well funded pack of liars. The entire country has just had its clock cleaned by a bunch of financial wizzes engaged in fraud and gambling. Social Security has nothing to do with this problem, neither does Medicare, both are funded through payroll tax deductions and SS is currently taking in more than it pays out. The bailout is at least equal in size to the deficit and probably larger. When a nation that can issue its own curency is in a recession the ath out is more Government spending, which will increase jobs and tax revenue simultaneously while rducibg the need for expenditures on unemployment and welfare. Then all you need to do to reduce the deficit completely is adopt reasonable defense policies and throw meglomanical aggression out.

#12 | Posted by nutcase at 2013-03-10 11:48 PM | Reply | Flag:

the system is skewed by healthcare lobbyists, essentially medicare is 40yrs of premiums without services, it's viable or would be if the insurance lobby wasn't so strong & corrupting. At least it was when jobs were available. The call to privatization for medicare & SS is simply the financial sector tapping the last of the US piggybank.

#13 | Posted by kingcuke at 2013-03-11 12:19 AM | Reply | Flag:

You can trust me,
The check is in the mail,
I won't come in your ... [ house ;) ]

#14 | Posted by reitze at 2013-03-11 12:22 AM | Reply | Flag:

#14 only 3? Well yea, that's enough.

#15 | Posted by reitze at 2013-03-11 12:23 AM | Reply | Flag:

It's medicare. You don't have a choice to buy in or not. It's compulsory.

It's not compulsory at all. Don't earn anything and nothing will be deducted from your check.

#16 | Posted by snoofy at 2013-03-11 12:53 AM | Reply | Flag:

The problem with entitlements is they are an entitlement.
No one with common sense and honesty can say, "Hey! You are scamming us" after a leech has been approved.
Just ask one of those bottom feeder social security lawyers who specialize in getting people in on the gravy train.

#17 | Posted by Diablo at 2013-03-11 01:33 AM | Reply | Flag:

So what is needed is separation of profit motive from publicly funded enterprise.

#18 | Posted by snoofy at 2013-03-11 05:57 AM | Reply | Flag:

#12 excellecence award!
"...throw meglomanical aggression out."

#19 | Posted by ichiro at 2013-03-11 09:34 AM | Reply | Flag:

#13
+1

#20 | Posted by ichiro at 2013-03-11 09:37 AM | Reply | Flag:

I should add that controlling health care costs, which are completely out of control should be another high priority. One could start with unnecessary insurance companies but fees mus talso be reduced. This is very easy if the entire billing and reimbursement system is replaced by something reasonably efficient so that doctors don't spend more staff time responding to insurance company demands and questions than they do caring for patients. If doctors were put on Government salary, as in many countries, there wouldn't be any need to generate bills. Imagine that.

#21 | Posted by nutcase at 2013-03-11 11:27 AM | Reply | Flag:

If doctors were put on Government salary, as in many countries, there wouldn't be any need to generate bills. Imagine that.

Wow, you liberals are good at telling professionals what they can get paid.

Remember, there's a reason surgeons get paid alot of money. Try cutting that by 2/3 and see how far that gets you..

#22 | Posted by boaz at 2013-03-11 11:43 AM | Reply | Flag:

@13
LOL
Last time I looked the US piggy bank was completely empty. There's nothing in the piggy bank except a bunch of IOU's that some poor bag holding Americans are going to have to pay back.

#23 | Posted by Huguenot at 2013-03-11 12:15 PM | Reply | Flag:

Hiltzik needs to learn the definition of an "unfunded liability". Nobody says that SS and Medicare are 60 trillion 'in the hole' that is his straw man. It is truthful to say that SS and Medicare have a 60 trillion 'unfunded liability' over the next 75 years (but it's probably going to be even higher than that).

That will have to be paid for by either debt or additional taxes. Basically the payroll tax would need to be doubled over the next 75 years to cover it. That by anybody's standard is a rip-off.

#24 | Posted by Huguenot at 2013-03-11 12:42 PM | Reply | Flag:

There's nothing in the piggy bank except a bunch of IOU's that some poor bag holding Americans are going to have to pay back.

#23 | Posted by Huguenot

People who complain about our debts alway ignore what we are actually worth.

The United States is worth over a quadrillion dollars.

So whine away whiner. America is very strong. In spite of you.

#25 | Posted by donnerboy at 2013-03-11 01:21 PM | Reply | Flag:

Last time I looked the US piggy bank was completely empty.

When you believe the lies the pinheads tell to advance their scam, this is the thinking that results.

#26 | Posted by 726 at 2013-03-11 02:04 PM | Reply | Flag:

The United States is worth over a quadrillion dollars.

LOL. I dont know whether you said that in jest or not...If it was jest, then it should earn a funny flag..

If it was serious, it's one of the saddest things I have ever heard..

#27 | Posted by boaz at 2013-03-11 02:34 PM | Reply | Flag:

If it was serious, it's one of the saddest things I have ever heard..

#27 | Posted by boaz

We are the richest most powerful nation in the Known Universe yet you constantly act like we are a doomed backwater nation like Somalia or in the most recent false comparisons...Greece.

The United States is not Greece. Even Mississippi is not Greece.

The only way America will fail is if we do nothing to prevent it.

Having debt does not equate to failure. We have trillions upon trillions in Real assets to offset that debt. In fact, if we were to pay off all debt there would be no need for the US Treasury and the monetary system would seize up.

This constant harping about debt as though THAT was actually the ONLY problem that needs to be solved and that the Government is the Problem and that The Beast needs to be starved is absurd at best and possibly treasonous at worst.

Focusing all our attentions on Reducing the debt is no more a realistic domestic policy then having Armageddon as a foreign policy.

#28 | Posted by donnerboy at 2013-03-11 03:38 PM | Reply | Flag:

((It's medicare. You don't have a choice to buy in or not. It's compulsory.))

Madbomber, I Googled to check your statement above and read Part B is NOT mandatory.

Part A does not have a premium as long as you or a spouse has the required 40 quarters of work. The Medicare card will be automatically sent to you if you are currently receiving social security. If you are not you'll need to visit the social security office and apply for Medicare.

If you do not want Part B ($96.40 premium) you must fill out a form rejecting it and send it back to Medicare. You should get on Part A no matter what.

#29 | Posted by Judity at 2013-03-11 04:02 PM | Reply | Flag:

Lie #1 is their Lie #1

Lie No. 1: The payroll tax hike is killing the retail economy.

WTF are they talking about, NOBODY said that was an entitlement? I hate the way news stories love to have lists like The Top 10 Things to Check before...

For the most part I won't click on such headlines....

#30 | Posted by DavetheWave at 2013-03-11 06:27 PM | Reply | Flag:

We have trillions upon trillions in Real assets to offset that debt.
#28 | Posted by donnerboy at 2013-03-11 03:38 PM | Reply | Flag:

We?

#31 | Posted by Huguenot at 2013-03-11 07:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

We?

#31 | Posted by Huguenot

I am sorry. I thought you were an American too. I consider assets like Yosemite Park as belonging to all of us Americans. Just one example of a Real American Asset. There are many more assets worth Trillions upon trillions of dollars. And your insistence that Social Security is a pyramid scheme that is going broke borders on derangement.

Perhaps this will help you bust out of that reality distortion bubble:

It's not a pension fund into which you put your money when you are young and from which you draw when you are old. It's an immediate transfer from workers today to retirees today. That's what it has always been and that's what it has to be–there is no other possible way for it to work.

www.forbes.com

#32 | Posted by donnerboy at 2013-03-11 08:50 PM | Reply | Flag:

LOL
Sell off publicly held assets so that Babyboomers can get entitlements. That alone should tell you that boomers haven't paid in enough, and it's downright reprehensible. Not only do you want to put future Americans deeper into debt, you want to take away their assets too. That's despicable.

I've got the solution and it's an easy one. Since SS and Medicare are 'pay as you go' then the current benefit should equal the current receipts. It's that simple. Divide up the current receipts equally among the current recipients and call it a day. Or, more likely, proceed with Obamacare and euthanize the Babyboomers.

#33 | Posted by Huguenot at 2013-03-11 09:10 PM | Reply | Flag:

Another nighty in clown paradise.

I guess you will be continuing to say that all the way until the programs cease to exist due to running out of money, right?
I can still hear you saying that as the programs go bankrupt.

#5 | POSTED BY BOAZ AT 2013-03-10 08:46 PM | FLAG: MORE PSYCHIC DOOM AND GLOOM prediction

The success rate of clown predictions is laughable. Walter Mercado does better.

Followed by paranoia over some dark government conspiracy, ...

Sell off publicly held assets so that Babyboomers can get entitlements. That alone should tell you that boomers haven't paid in enough, and it's downright reprehensible. Not only do you want to put future Americans deeper into debt, you want to take away their assets too. That's despicable.

#33 | POSTED BY HUGUENOT AT 2013-03-11 09:10 PM | REPLY | FLAG:SOUNDING MORE AND MORE LIKE DAFFY DUCK

typical the bleating masses of clown sheeple tuning up their victimization... you have nothing of substance to back up your blathering except more theoretical blathering by empty headed republiclowns... you sound pathetic.

#34 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2013-03-11 10:56 PM | Reply | Flag:

Lol
What's the matter? A little Babyboomer euthanization put you on edge?

#35 | Posted by Huguenot at 2013-03-11 11:13 PM | Reply | Flag:

Re #33

No one said to sell them off you miscreant.

Do you sell off your assets just because you are a small percentage of that amount in debt?

#36 | Posted by donnerboy at 2013-03-12 01:28 AM | Reply | Flag:

The truth about entitlements:

--It is possible to over promise.
--Just because it was promised does not mean it can be delivered without robbing the innocent.
--Just because money was put away 20 years ago does not mean will buy more than its base worth, or even that it will maintain its base worth (for example, money put away 20 years ago that would pay 6 months rent will hopefully pay 6 months rent 20 years later. Assuming it will pay 60 months rent is silly unless you manage your money and are very good at it or lucky).
--Just because you worked, put some money away, and were promised the sun and moon, does not mean it is morally ok to demand the sun and moon (although it IS morally ok to demand the severed heads of the folks that promised the sun and moon, or their political heirs...).

I've been promised a lot. A lot more than just my rent. I know damn well it wont be forthcoming, and that I will be HARMED if they try to paper over the cracks rather than face truth. I'm hoping when all is said and done my retirement pays my rent, but even that could be lost if they keep insisting I can be given the sun and moon, and spend effort hiding the cracks rather than fixing.

#37 | Posted by USAF242 at 2013-03-12 03:25 PM | Reply | Flag: