Give Me that Back

9/16/24

Our year end golf outing had more than the normal amount of controversy this year. While disputes over handicaps, rulings on the course and other inane issues were raised, the real problem was final tallying. Score cards were calculated and winners were announced and paid. Unfortunately, one of the groups neglected to turn in their score card on time and therefore, all the scores had to be re-calculated. Sure enough, there were significant changes. Our organizer had to ask for the money back. Fortunately for him, this was a friendly crowd who understood the fairness of it all. That will not be the case across the globe when governments start asking for things back.

The inescapable truth of fiscal policies across the world is they are not sustainable. Guns and butter arguments have favored butter for decades and now with a violent world erupting, the need for guns is running head long into where does the money come from? Europe is the tip of the spear where socialistic programs have rendered limited investments in defense that now are desperately needed. Recent immigrants receiving social benefits only added to the imbalance.

Here in the US, we find ourselves living in the nightmare Milton Friedman warned of. You cannot have both a welfare state and open borders. Human nature will always cause people to seek out fortune using the easiest path. Currently, for many around the world, that is entry into the USA where the streets are paved in gold….for now. With astronomical debt of $35,000,000,000,000 and rising at a furious clip due to annual budget deficits of trillions more, the day of reckoning is upon us. Social programs require drastic changes including reductions and curtailments of benefits. We’ll see if those affected will be as kind to give up their bounty.

History does not treat their leaders very well when they attempt to claw back things the proletariat have come to expect. So it is that politicians  keep feeding the monster rather than put it on a diet even if it is for their own good. Once you provide or subsidize food, housing, transportation and health care, they become “rights” in recipients’ minds. Any reduction or curtailment will have their proponents in courts, on the street protesting and slinging rhetorical arrows at those brave enough to tell the truth.

True leaders will bring home the facts that most people, even those on the dole, understand. Still, cutting off those who rely on these programs will only blow up the issue. Rather, gradual and incremental reductions leading to elimination in some program’s cases, is desperately needed and now. Rasing the retirement age to reflect increases in average life expectancy is a no-brainer for example. Review and strong enforcement of eligibility requirements for Medicaid, Affordable Care (Obamacare), and SS disability as well as every other social program….and there are many, can help swing the curve. We should not wait for a catastrophic event like a major conflict or natural disaster to force the situation.