The April edition of the AARP Bulletin features an article entitled "Dispatches from the Battle of the Ages." The general "gist" of this piece infers that us old folks are ripping off the younger generation and then makes an outrageous claim "Social Security and Medicare gobbled up 38% of the federal budget in fiscal year 2012." One has to wonder where Mr. Tom Dunkel (the author of this piece of fiction) got his information? To set the record straight, here are some facts taken directly from the annual report to Congress regarding Social Security and Medicare:
Social Security Medicare: calendar year 2012
Calendar Year 2012 Income:
Income:
Payroll taxes* $ 731 billion Payroll taxes* $ 523.5 billion
Interest 109 billion Interest 13.4 billion
Total Income: $ 840 billion Total Income: $ 536.9 billion
Expenditures: < 786> billion Expenditures: < 574.2> billion
Surplus: $ 54 billion Budget Deficit < 37.3> billion
Trust Fund: Trust Fund:
end of 2011 $ 2.678 Trillion end of 2011 $ 324.9 Billion
end of 2012 $ 2.732 Trillion end of 2012 $ 287.6 Billion
- "Payroll taxes" are identified in the official report as "non-interest income."
The real problem is these Trust Funds have no actual cash because several generations of political leaders replaced all these funds with Treasury notes and IOU's - adding to our national debt. Accordingly, any need to draw money from surplus assets would require more government borrowing of funds to pay for the funds already borrowed - or, raising taxes which would result in Social Security and Medicare benefits being taxed twice.
But to add insult to injury, Congressional leaders have consistently criticized the so-called "Entitlements" as a budget busting item and yet in fiscal years 2011 and 2012 this same Congress temporarily reduced the payroll tax for Social Security by 2% and agreed to "replicate to the extent possible" revenues that would have occurred in the absence of this payroll tax by transferring funds from the General Fund.
It is clear Medicare expenses exceed tax revenues. The fact the Trust Account is filled with Treasury notes and IOU's, means all shortages have to be paid out of the Nation's general fund; which, of course is part of the budgetary deficit.
Referring to an Associated Press article (10/17/2011) by Elli Kennedy who points out that Medicare fraud is estimated at between $60 billion to $90 billion per year. "Medicare fraud," according to Kennedy, "has grown so lucrative and so easy that drug dealers and organized crime rings are tapping into it . . . because it affords greater payoffs and carries shorter prison sentences than drug trafficking or robbery." If Congressional steps are taken to increase the penalty for Medicare Fraud and a decent effort is made to put an end to the Medicare rip-off by the U.S. Attorney General (instead of private contractors), the Medicare system would show a surplus instead of a deficit.
Medicare ratepayers should be outraged at any increase in premium costs while Medicare fraud continues virtually without restriction.
Apart from the $17-plus trillion national debt, which costs more than $400 billion in interest every year, what is the real budget "buster?"
U.S. Federal Gov. revenue/ expense FY 2012
Individual Income Taxes: $ 1165 billion
Corporate income tax 237 billion
Social Secty & other payroll Taxes 841 billion
Excise tax 79 billion
Customs duties 31 billion
Earnings deposits & Fed Reserve System 81 Billion
Other misc. receipts 24 billion
TOTAL direct revenue $ 2.469 Trillion
Expenditures: FY 2012 < 3.796> Trillion
Federal Deficit < 1.327> Trillion
GROSS PUBLIC DEBT: $16.351 Trillion
It is interesting to note that Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes are included in the Federal General Fund; whereas, Medicare and Social Security are dedicated funds for a specific purpose and should be recorded separately. If these trust accounts are pulled from the budget thus reducing FY2012 total direct revenue from $2.469 trillion to $1.628 trillion, a more accurate fiscal accounting is revealed.
The $1.327 trillion deficit means that out of every dollar the Federal Government spends, 35 cents is borrowed which adds to the massive $16.351 trillion national debt. (It is now more than $17 trillion.)
But there's more. The military budget is approximately $740 billion, Veteran Expenses add another $141 billion and the Department of Homeland Security's cost of $48 billion rounds off the total expense of $929 billion. When adding in the annual interest expense on the National Debt of more than $400 billion, the total cost of these four items is approximately $1.4 trillion leaving a mere $228 billion to handle the balance of governmental expenses.
As long as Congress keeps looking at Social Security & Medicare as a huge financial problem, why not look at the Federal pension plan which features an employee cost of 2 to 2.5% (social security requires an individual to pay 6.2%). The U.S Government gets to pay the rest - so how much of a financial impact does that make on the General Fund? And what about the military retirement which is entirely subsidized by the federal government?
In short, it appears Mr. Burton's article relied upon the same propaganda that has been advanced by Congress in recent years claiming that "Entitlements" are the problem and not the "Bush tax cuts" made during our involvement in the Middle Eastern war.
Mr. Dunkel is correct in his assertion that "we" as a nation are leaving behind a terrible burden ($17-trillion national debt and counting) that our unborn children will have to pay; but, it is outrageous to blame Social Security and Medicare recipients as the cause of this massive debt which, incidentally, we paid for and which does not burden the nation's budget by 38% as was claimed!