ENTITLEMENT CRISIS

"The rising costs of government entitlements is a "fiscal cancer" that threatens catastrophic consequences for our country and could bankrupt America."

- Comptroller General Walker on 60 Minutes (3/4/2007)

"Without early and meaningful action to address entitlements, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened, with future generations bearing much of the cost."

- Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke (2/28/2007)

"The aging of the population and continuing increase in health care costs are expected to put considerable pressure on the budget in the coming decades. Economic growth alone is unlikely to be sufficient to alleviate that pressure as Medicare, Medicaid, and to a lesser extent Social Security require ever greater resources under current law."

- Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag (1/26/2007)

Entitlement Growth Is Unsustainable

Entitlements already consume more than half the
entire federal budget and are growing at 6% per year – significantly faster than our entire economy, and more than twice the rate of inflation. If simply left on “auto-pilot” (assuming no new entitlement spending or benefits):

- By 2015 entitlements will consume 62% of our total budget.

- By 2040 – Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone will consume 20% of our economy – equivalent to the cost of the entire Federal Government today.

- By 2040 – Americans will have to pay twice the current rate of taxes – just to maintain the current level of entitlement benefits.

Entitlements Aren't All That's At Risk...

Without reform, these programs will also impose a crushing burden on other budgetary priorities and the economy.

- Entitlements will eventually crowd out all other priorities: such as education, veterans’ benefits, science, agriculture, the environment, even defense and homeland security.

- The massive tax burden needed to sustain the entitlement programs will jeopardize the competitiveness of American workers and small businesses, who are already facing tremendous challenges in the globalizing economy.

LINKS TO HBC DOCUMENTS ON THE LOOMING ENTITLEMENT CRISIS:

LINKS TO DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE LOOMING ENTITLEMENT CRISIS: