Romney Rues Day Of Entitlement Reckoning

Mitt Romney may be a political turkey so done you could stick a fork in his national ambitions BUT in “Midterms Bring Republicans to a Fork in the Road” he repeats truism nation’s wealth is being gobbled by entitlements.

“We can govern in the people’s interest or make a lot of pointless noise,” Mitt wrote in the WSJ. “I hope we choose wisely.” He explained: “Excessive spending & the deficit [resulting in a $31 trillion national debt and counting] have been the Republican Party’s bugaboo for years. But like the Democrats, we shy away from telling the American people the truth that the spending problem isn’t primarily due to the annual budget. Two-thirds of federal spending isn’t even voted on by Congress. Rather, it is automatic “nondiscretionary” spending on entitlement, such as Medicare, Medicaid, & Social Security, and on servicing [their] debt. It’s this spending that is growing faster than the economy.”

The kicker: “No amount of trimming what the federal government allocates for defense, education, the environment or housing will be enough to bring our books into balance.” This, reality, of course, is nothing new. Other brave souls have uttered similar entitlement warnings and they’ve usually lost their next election. What’s always been lacking is realistic “solutions”. And, Mitt’s op ed is also predictably big on warnings but short on you know what. Mitt, how about REALLY being honest & suggesting some concrete spending compromises, like delaying the Social Security retirement age since most folks are living much longer these days, or properly defining the eligibility rules for Medicaid so only those really in need qualify? Then, Mitt, expect to lose your sorry butt in the next election.

Davd Soul