Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Entitlement and Mandatory Service
After last night's State of the Union address by George W, I was reflecting on some of the items suggested in my previous post What Would You Do As President?
I want to think about entitlement and mandatory service. The talking points from that post follow:
It is very obvious that the entitlement programs are bankrupting the government and something, somewhere is gonna have to give at some point.
Bush has one plan: privatize social security savings. The first bullet point simply decides to drop it. It doesn't really provide any details, but I'm sure a complete removal of social security while allowing grandfathered recipients to stay on would cause quite an uproar. Perhaps he means more of a phased diminishing of what we currently know as social security until it gets to a point where it no longer exists as we currently know it.
Medicare/Medicaid is another entitlement program that costs bazillions of dollars. I mean, I guess we don't want all of our nation's seniors to be forgotten and left to die because their medical expenses are too expensive (yes, I know seniors are not the only users of those programs...).
What are the alternatives? Nationalized health care? Privatized Medicare programs? Letting people get sick and die long before they would if health care was provided for them?
I don't even want to get into other entitlement programs like welfare, but let's just say that lots of money gets spent by the government on citizens that put far less into the system than they are now receiving. It's a small case of take from the rich and give to the needy.
How can the government pay for all of it?
It reminds me of JFK when he said "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". When everything is boiled down the government can only do things that it has the resources to do. Those resources come from the people. We usually think of resources as dollars, so that translates to various taxes. However, it could also mean "free" service to the country.
Israel requires all of it's citizens to participate in mandatory military service. That applies to both males AND females. This is addressed by the last two bullet points. Mandatory civil service is a much more realistic concept than mandatory military service so more diverse opportunities would be made available to those required to serve. Mandatory boot camp is a separate but interesting concept. This would actually cost the government more money than it would possibly raise. However, I can immediately see a handful of benefits:
The other option is to have greatly increased taxation levels - much more than today. We are talking at least an extra $1000/person every year. Minimum.
Which choice sounds the best? Eliminating or drastically changing entitlement programs, creating mandatory civil service, or dramatically increasing taxes? Probably some combination, but how would it look?
I want to think about entitlement and mandatory service. The talking points from that post follow:
- Social Security and Medicare stop. You can stay on, but if you are under 40... you can forget ever using them. They are entitlement and bankrupting the government
- Mandatory civil service. We can talk about giving you college tuition, but you serve. It can be military, or it can be civil (be a meter maid, that's fine with me). You will do something to give back to your country for a little while.
- Require all able-bodied citizens between ages 18 and 35 (male and female) to undergo military bootcamp. This is NOT a draft however; after going through bootcamp, you are not required to serve in the military.
It is very obvious that the entitlement programs are bankrupting the government and something, somewhere is gonna have to give at some point.
Bush has one plan: privatize social security savings. The first bullet point simply decides to drop it. It doesn't really provide any details, but I'm sure a complete removal of social security while allowing grandfathered recipients to stay on would cause quite an uproar. Perhaps he means more of a phased diminishing of what we currently know as social security until it gets to a point where it no longer exists as we currently know it.
Medicare/Medicaid is another entitlement program that costs bazillions of dollars. I mean, I guess we don't want all of our nation's seniors to be forgotten and left to die because their medical expenses are too expensive (yes, I know seniors are not the only users of those programs...).
What are the alternatives? Nationalized health care? Privatized Medicare programs? Letting people get sick and die long before they would if health care was provided for them?
I don't even want to get into other entitlement programs like welfare, but let's just say that lots of money gets spent by the government on citizens that put far less into the system than they are now receiving. It's a small case of take from the rich and give to the needy.
How can the government pay for all of it?
It reminds me of JFK when he said "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". When everything is boiled down the government can only do things that it has the resources to do. Those resources come from the people. We usually think of resources as dollars, so that translates to various taxes. However, it could also mean "free" service to the country.
Israel requires all of it's citizens to participate in mandatory military service. That applies to both males AND females. This is addressed by the last two bullet points. Mandatory civil service is a much more realistic concept than mandatory military service so more diverse opportunities would be made available to those required to serve. Mandatory boot camp is a separate but interesting concept. This would actually cost the government more money than it would possibly raise. However, I can immediately see a handful of benefits:
- Many boot camp graduates would continue on into the military as inertia would simply make that an obvious choice
- All U.S. citizens would have a very basic level of military training. This is important as our borders do not provide an impenetrable barrier to war and terrorism. An attacker that makes it to domestic territory would meet a more ready force if boot camp was mandatory
- Fringe benefits of increased structure, respect, and healthy habits
The other option is to have greatly increased taxation levels - much more than today. We are talking at least an extra $1000/person every year. Minimum.
Which choice sounds the best? Eliminating or drastically changing entitlement programs, creating mandatory civil service, or dramatically increasing taxes? Probably some combination, but how would it look?
Labels: entitlement, government, military, politics, president, taxes, welfare
¶ 2:14 PM