False Choices

The Deficit Commission has been focusing on Social Security as one of the major means to lower the deficit and the national debt. But Social Security is really not as much of a problem as other areas of the government. Social Security is solvent for years to come, and one of the only reasons that it is not in better shape is that the Social Security Trust Fund has been repeatedly raided for years.

One of the biggest problems going forward into the future is the cost of providing health care. This is an elephant that threatens to engulf huge amounts of money going into the next few decades. With workers everywhere being asked to downsize, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and providers continue to expand their profits.

One of the reasons that single-payer was allegedly rejected is the amount that it would add to the deficit. But that money is circulating in the economy anyway, and to bring it under the federal government would be eliminating most of the profit that adds to the cost, and much of the waste. Also, providers and pharmaceutical companies would be held to reasonable profits that would be more in line with what people are experiencing and able to pay in this diminished economy.

And let's not forget military spending. Is it really necessary for the US to spend more than most of the other countries of the world combined? And why are do we still have bases in Germany, Japan, and other countries around the world? Military spending threatens to overwhelm us, and no other country spends anywhere near as much as we do.

Cutting education would be a huge mistake when the US is falling so far behind in its ability to innovate. And with the economy in a shambles, unemployment and food stamps provide an important (but inadequate, given the increase in hunger and homelessness within our borders over the last 30 years) safety net.

Maybe we should heed the old truism and not "bite off our nose to spite our face."