You know, what really bothers me about reports like the following, is that
they harp on how bad the economy is, and how millions of people are
suffering wage decreases or losing their jobs entirely, etc., and yet there
is absolutely no mention about the billions of dollars that the US
Government spends every single year on its war efforts.

Neither do such reports ever mention the fact that billions of dollars more
that are likewise spent every single year in order to support and prop up --
bribe -- US-friendly nations.

The fact of the matter is that if the US Government would stop its foolish,
wasteful, destructive wars, and stop bribing other nations, there would be
billions of dollars more which could be used to help the American people,
who should come first.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
1 Timothy 5:8, KJV

In short, providing support for its foreign friends is NOT the US
Government's first priority; taking proper care of its own people is.
Biblically-speaking, the US Government is an infidel.


Recession Drains Social Security and Medicare

By ROBERT PEAR - NYT

May 12, 2009


WASHINGTON -- Even as Congress hunted for ways to finance a major expansion
of health insurance coverage, the Obama administration reported Tuesday that
the financial condition of the two largest federal benefit programs,
Medicare and Social Security, had deteriorated, in part because of the
recession.

As a result, the administration said, the Medicare fund that pays hospital
bills for older Americans is expected to run out of money in 2017, two years
sooner than projected last year. The Social Security trust fund will be
exhausted in 2037, four years earlier than predicted, it said.

Spending on Social Security and Medicare totaled more than $1 trillion last
year, accounting for more than one-third of the federal budget.

The fragility of the two programs is a concern not just for current
beneficiaries, but also for future retirees, taxpayers and politicians.
Lawmakers say they would never allow Medicare's trust fund to run out of
money. But beneficiaries could be required to pay higher premiums,
co-payments and deductibles to help cover the costs.

The projected date of insolvency, a widely used measure of the benefit
programs' financial health, shows the immense difficulties Mr. Obama and
Congress will face in trying to shore them up while also extending health
coverage to millions of Americans.

The labor secretary, Hilda L. Solis, noted that 5.7 million jobs had been
lost since the recession began in December 2007. With fewer people working,
the government collects less in payroll taxes, a major source of financing
for Medicare and Social Security.

A resumption of economic growth is not expected to close the financing gap.
The trustees' bleak projections already assume that the economy will begin
to recover late this year.

The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, said the only way to keep
Medicare solvent was to "control runaway growth in both public and private
health care expenditures." And he said Mr. Obama intended to do that as part
of his plan to guarantee access to health insurance for all Americans.

But if cost controls do not produce the expected savings, Congress is likely
to find it difficult to preserve benefits without increasing taxes.

Just hours before the trustees of Medicare and Social Security issued their
annual report, suggesting that the nation could not afford the programs it
had, the Senate Finance Committee finished a hearing on how to pay for the
expansion of health insurance coverage that Mr. Obama seeks.

Mr. Obama has said he does not want to finance expanded health coverage with
more deficit spending. Rather, he says, Congress must find ways to offset
the costs, so they do not add to the deficit over the next decade.

Federal deficits and debt are soaring because of the recession and federal
efforts to shore up banks and other industries while trying to revive the
economy with a huge infusion of federal spending.

"The financial outlook for the hospital insurance trust fund is
significantly less favorable than projected in last year's annual report,"
the Medicare trustees said. "Actual payroll tax income in 2008 and projected
future amounts are significantly lower than previously projected, due to
lower levels of average wages and fewer covered workers."

In coming years, the trustees said, Medicare spending will increase faster
than either workers' earnings or the economy over all.

The trustees predicted that, for the first time in more than three decades,
Social Security recipients would not receive any increase in their benefits
next year or in 2011. In 2012, they predicted, the cost-of-living adjustment
will be 1.4 percent.

The updates are calculated under a statutory formula and reflect changes in
the Consumer Price Index, which was unusually high last year because of
energy prices.

If there is no cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security, about
three-fourths of Medicare beneficiaries will not see any change in their
basic premiums for Part B, which covers doctors' services. The monthly
premium, now $96.40, is usually deducted from Social Security checks, the
main source of income for more than half of older Americans.

The trustees said that one-fourth of Medicare beneficiaries would face
sharply higher premiums: about $104 next year and $120 in 2011. This group
includes new Medicare beneficiaries and those with higher incomes (over
about $85,000 a year for individuals and $170,000 for couples).

Seventy-five percent of beneficiaries will not pay any increase, so the
remaining 25 percent have to pay more to keep the trust fund at the same
level, Medicare officials said.

The aging of baby boomers will strain both Medicare and Social Security, but
Medicare's financial problems are more urgent.

The trustees predict a 30 percent increase in the number of Medicare
beneficiaries in the coming decade, to 58.8 million in 2018, from 45.2
million last year.

But the projected increase in health costs and the use of medical care is a
more significant factor in the growth of Medicare. The trustees predict that
average Medicare spending per beneficiary will increase more than 50
percent, to $17,000 in 2018, from $11,000 last year.

Representative Pete Stark, the California Democrat who is chairman of the
Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said the Medicare report "underscores
the urgent need for health reform."


Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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