Super Failure

I usually never have the energy to write after a 13 hour shift at work, but today’s confirmation of the Super Committee’s failure made me too angry not to.  Because a plan really isn’t that hard to come up with.

Democrats had the right idea for putting entitlement programs on the table.  That was a lot of skin to put into the game.  Republicans do not seem to have really made many concessions, since they have resisted raising taxes all along.  But this deal isn’t going to be done without raising taxes.  In fact, it isn’t going to get done without making everyone in and out of Washington angry.  That’s the sign of a good deal – it means everyone has skin in the game.  Here’s some of what I think needs to happen to get to the deal the Super Committee couldn’t.  It’s going to focus a lot on entitlement reform.  After all, entitlement and military spending account for 82% of the 2012 federal budget.

1. Make it illegal to raid the social security trust fund for other uses.  This idea is to keep us from getting Social Security into trouble.  If you don’t fuck with it, Social Security functions perfectly well, thank you very much.
2. Raise the retirement age.  The fact of the matter is that as a whole, American’s are living longer, with most of the benefit being felt in middle to upper-income families.  But if we’re going living longer as a whole, that puts extra stress on Social Security and Medicare.  Push retirement back to 67 effective in 5-10 years.  That way you aren’t blindsiding people, but you will be making a move that will save money.
3. Take a critical look at what Medicare and Medicaid fund and whether it works.  If it doesn’t, throw it out.  People deserve to know that their medical care is actually going to help them.  Medicare can actually keep paying for treatments even if the drug is being prescribed in the face of flimsy to nonexistent evidence of its effectiveness.  This is because a board that decides Medicare payments is allowed to make their own decisions about what to pay for.  That list needs to be pruned so that only effective treatments are being funded.
4. Reduce Medicare benefits for wealthy Americans.  If they can and do pay for better treatment than Medicare provides, they don’t need Medicare benefits.  It’s a waste of money.
5. Negotiate flat medical payment rates by region.  Maryland already does this, as do Germany and Switzerland.  Payments to doctors and hospitals are decided by region, from a group with representation for doctors, hospitals, as well as public and private insurance.  Everyone pays the same amount.  This would help trim down the bureaucracy that is helping to inflate medical costs.  Because now, every insurance company negotiates its own rate with each provider, and they all end up paying different prices for the same things.  Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that’s stupid.
6. Raise taxes and increase how progressive the system is.  Flat taxes are unfair because a family making $40,000 stands to lose about $5,000 in taxes under such a system, ending with only $35,200.  That is a much bigger tax burden than a millionaire, who would still have $880,000 left at the end of the year.  Plenty to still pay the bills.  A flat tax is actually regressive (it hits the poor harder than the rich.)  Instead, taxes will have to be increased across the board, but the wealthy should expect to pay a bit more than their poorer co-citizens.  Why?  Because they can pay more without negative effect to their ability to finance their needs and wants.  Fully 1/3 of Americans are either below the poverty line, or have a salary only 50% above it, which means one financial calamity can send them right below the line.  The money isn’t going to come from that 1/3 of Americans, at least not much of it.
7. Cut unneeded military spending.  I’m looking at you and your friends, Osprey.  Your utility is still in doubt.  The fact of the matter is that the military is spending money on things it doesn’t need, because Congress authorizes it because certain constituencies benefit from the jobs they bring.  There’s also that lovely tradition of overcharging the government as a whole that could really be cracked down on for savings.  But everyone needs to make sacrifices to hit this target, and the military is no exception.  I think my fellow active duty and myself should be able to do without a pay raise.  Other federal employees are, and we should too.  It would save some money.
8. Have a hard talk about discretionary spending and what is needed.  How effective is each thing our discretionary spending is funding.  If it’s not effective, why are we paying for it?  If it is effective, why don’t we take some of the funds from ineffective things and redirect them to effective things to heighten their impact?  For me it’s not just about reducing the debt, it’s about getting more bang for your buck, too.
9. Invest in public works (especially our bridges, which could use some work), education, and job training.  We need to fix our unemployment problem.  The rate is still stuck at or around 9%.  It’s keeping our spending on unemployment benefits high, and meanwhile, those people are out of work and not paying taxes.  It’s about the biggest bang for your buck remember.  If you have to spend, you should spend in a way that will increase revenues in the future.  Getting people into jobs, and stimulating a hurting construction sector, will do just that.
10. Adjust our expectations.  We simply can’t have it all anymore, and we probably shouldn’t have had it all for some time now.  NPR puts it best in their article on the Super Committee’s failure:

The problem at base is that the country has been told too many pleasant lies and too few uncomfortable truths by both its major political parties. It is not possible to go on having all the government we’re used to (including entitlements and half the world’s total defense spending) and blithely send the bill to somebody else (either in the present or the future). It can’t continue and it won’t.