June 26, 2016
Just kidding, AP wouldn’t waste readers time on anything so frivolous as the future of the planet. No, it’s calling politicians irresponsible because they won’t run out and cut Social Security and Medicare.
The piece is headlined, “Medicare, Social Security finance woes.” The first sentence tells readers:
“The nation’s framework for economic security and health care in retirement is financially unsustainable, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to the presidential candidates.“
Yep, the programs are unsustainable in the same way that driving west in New Jersey is unsustainable. If you keep going west, you’ll end up in the Pacific Ocean. Yes, the programs face a projected shortfall, but if we waited a decade to do anything, and then put in place fixes comparable to what we did in the 1980s, the program would be fine for the rest of the century.
But hey, AP wants us to cut benefits now! You hear that, now! The piece only includes comments from advocates of cuts to emphasize that point.
Also, somehow AP failed to notice the enormous progress that has been made in reducing the projected shortfall for these two programs under President Obama. The combined shortfall has fallen by more than one-third over the eight years of the Obama administration. This is primarily due to slower growth in health care costs.
On this issue, the piece wrongly asserts that further savings in this area are unlikely. This is not true, our doctors get paid more than twice as much in doctors in other wealthy countries. There are enormous potential savings from bringing their pay in line with their counterparts in the rest of the world. There is also enormous room for savings on prescription drugs, medical equipment, and other areas.
Finally, it is striking how much ink AP and other news outlets devote to warning of the prospect of higher taxes for these programs when workers face far greater risks from the continuing upward redistribution of income. If most workers get their share of projected wage growth over the next three decades, any tax increases associated with sustaining Social Security and Medicare will be a drop in the bucket.
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