It has become common on the right to suggest that, given the massive amount of fraud that’s been occurring uninterrupted across America for how many years we can’t even say, at least some of the deficit is a result of not policing it. The fraud.
If we cut a few trillion in fraud across every agency and program, that’d be a big win, so this is good news.
Good, maybe even great.
My whole life I was told that Social Security would be bankrupt long before I was old enough to collect. But they kept taking it out of my paycheck, and here I am, old enough to collect (I am not, not yet), and they keep sending me paperwork on what I’d collect.
We’re also about 35 trillion deeper in debt than back then, which is background noise except when it suits some politician or other to bring it up. Jeanne Shaheen brought it up in 2007/2008 when she ran against John Sununu for the U.S. Senate. We had 10 trillion, and she said that was irresponsible; then she aided and abetted the next 30 trillion without batting an eye.
“Shaheen” means massive, generational debt, and anyone thinking about voting for her silver-spoon daughter, Stefany, should know we can’t afford another Shaheen in Congress.
So, the news from the SSA is an improvement, but not enough. The actual problem is spending. It’s always spending. And I’ve covered this topic before, so apologies if it’s a rehash. The best way to cut spending is to cut taxes, reduce revenues, and force austerity on whatever government thing is spending too much.
You cut taxes to cut government, and, if you forgot, they are all spending too much.
Government does too much, and too much of what it does is outsourced to DC. DC then sends cash to states or cities, and it appears that after all the handling fees, the states mishandle what’s left, and much of it gets wasted on fraud.
The easiest solution is to stop taking it from the states and let them take it themselves. Some might find alternatives that cost less and do more. No federal handling would reduce costs, and keeping it local puts responsibility where it belongs.
States already handle the small print, and it isn’t too bold to say some of them would manage eligibility and restrictions better and prevent or investigate fraud more effectively. No one else to blame, and if it goes sideways, your constituents know who’s paying (they are) and who screwed up (their elected representatives).
And sure, there’s plenty of good debate to be had about ending a long list of entitlements that are unconstitutional, and we should do that, but much like my appeal to the NH State Legislature to stop funding homelessness with tax dollars and shift all responsibility to private donors, and then watch the “problem” shrink before our eyes, it’s not an easy message to sell these days.
But it’s one we ought to have. What socialism promises will end far worse than that. You run out of other people’s money, and you get a tyrannical, jackbooted, centrally operated police state to make sure no one complains too much about the bait and switch.
