Entitlement Reform
What most people mean when they refer to entitlements are “programs that require payments to persons, state or local governments, or other entities in specific eligibility criteria established in the authorizing law are met.” Entitlements are considered mandatory spending, meaning the federal government is legally obligated to make these payments; therefore it is not controlled as a part of the annual appropriations process. Mandatory spending currently encompasses more than half of all federal spending, and most entitlements are not capped at as specific spending level.
Entitlement reform requires a measured approach, taking into account the help that some people legitimately need. I firmly believe that Americans at or near retirement should not see changes to their promised benefits. However, in order to protect Social Security and Medicare for future generations, we must provide commonsense reforms to strengthen and preserve these programs. In fact, according to the Medicare Trustees the Trust Fund will be insolvent in 13 years and the Social Security Trustees indicate the Social Security Trust Fund will begin consistently paying out more than it receives in 2036. Clearly we can’t wait to tackle these very real problems. Congress should work in a bipartisan fashion to meet this challenge.