I will answer Viper1 and mrstickball.
1st off Viper1, what makes you think a new President can just walk in and unilaterally stop the 2 wars without congressional approval. What makes you think he could easily kill the Bush tax cuts? What makes you think he could just cancel Medicare Part D? This isnt how the US Govt works.
Now speaking of Medicare Part D which by the way was enacted by Bush mrstickball and is the major reason the govt lost revenue on Medicare. Since Medicare Part D was unfunded and a huge boon to the pharmaceutical industry. Who led the charge for Medicare Part D? Dick Armey who then resigned and went to work for the you guessed it pharmaceutical industry as a highly paid lobbyist and found 1 of the 2 major groups supporting Tea Party initiatives (Freedomworks). Medicare is the most efficient health program we have. If anything we should increase its usage and yes that would cause a tax increase, but why is a tax increase bad for Medicare, but huge premium increases on private insurance OK.
See I am one of those upper 2% that would get hit by eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the rich. I have started companies and supplied health insurance for employees. I have been hit with 20% premium increases YoY from Health Insurance companies. I have been told by Health Insurance companies that if you want to offer plans from multiple companies there will be a 5% premium on the plans. I have competed against companies overseas where those companies don't have to provide insurance to employees to be competitive because it is supplied by the govt. So not only is Health Insurance more expensive than Medicare it also makes it harder for US companies to compete.
As for Medicare and Social Security. They both have a surplus. This means that the Medicare and FICA taxes everyone who works pays have built up a nest egg if you will. Problem is that the other spending (primarily defense) has used those surplus's and the Medicare and Social Security trust funds have IoUs rather than cash. Social Security trust fund has a surplus that should last 25 years. Medicare about 12 years. Social Security can easily be fixed. Back during Reagan years the fix put in place was to fund Social Security with 90% of payroll earnings (not all income because the capital gains that some of us like myself are only taxed at 15%). Well do the inequality of how wages have changed over the years the annual adjustment to the Social Security cap has adjusted to COLA. Thing is most works wages havent increased as much as COLA and the high income earners have had wages skyrocket. Those wages are already above the Social Security cap. Adjust the cap to capture 90% again and Social Security fixed. Currently 84% of wages are taxed.
Like I said earlier Medicare should be expanded and offered as a choice for people to buy into. The premium would be more than what the tax we pay, but less than private health insurance. Not to mention it takes an act of congress to raise Medicare taxes, where as private insurance it is a guy with a 7 figure salary and benefits, corner office, private bathroom with gold fixtures, couple of yachts, a bentley (or 2) and a villa (or 2) that raises health insurance premiums.
Its libraries that sell systems not a single game.
