Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Did Obama say that Medicare is the biggest contributor to the deficit? [View all]frazzled
(18,402 posts)24. That is presuming nothing has or will have changed
The war in Iraq is now over and Afghanistan will be in another year, saving billions. Plus the Pentagon (since the time this chart was made) made significant budget cut proposals. More are to come for defense.
The Bush-era tax cuts, as of tonight, will reduce the deficit by $600 billion, and the "tax reform" changes (loopholes, corporate taxes) are coming in several months to generate more revenue. So this chart is already old.
It is undisputed that the fastest growing costs are in health care.
See this post from earlier:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2115004
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
64 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
Did Obama say that Medicare is the biggest contributor to the deficit? [View all]
Stinky The Clown
Jan 2013
OP
Neither does defense. In fact, defense doesn't get anything except money from the federal
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#49
A lot of what goes into the "Defense" budget actually does go into the domestic economy
Alameda
Jan 2013
#53
big deal, so does a lot of medical spending. Defense spending drives deficits.
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#54
After all this discussion how is it possible people still don't understand the basics?
dkf
Jan 2013
#11
So are those deficits from Bush tax cuts going to morph into deficits from Obama tax cuts?
dkf
Jan 2013
#15
Thats the past drivers of the current debt as it stands today. Future deficit projections
phleshdef
Jan 2013
#23
They don't go away because unemployment is currently a far bigger problem than the deficit.
bornskeptic
Jan 2013
#58
Hogwash. More than half of medicare costs are paid directly by beneficiaries.
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#20
That is a falsehood. More than half of *all* medicare costs are paid by workers, through direct
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#22
I am specifically addressing the part that we have paid into all our working careers...
dkf
Jan 2013
#46
They shouldn't deny it. He said it. He has been saying it for years. And its 100% true.
phleshdef
Jan 2013
#7
That is the chart I have always used -- it draws a very clear picture, doesn't it?
Samantha
Jan 2013
#30
Defense spending is 19% of the combined federal budget. Medicare spending funded from general
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#31
End of life care is crazy expensive for a lot of people. Lots of elderly die in ICUs
mucifer
Jan 2013
#17
you realize that these cuts for 'waste' and 'redundancy' have been ongoing, right? how much
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#32
I'm all for that. I doubt it will ever happen; things are the way they are to ASSIST pharma in
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#40