Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs

[classicman]

On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office released its updated long-term budget forecast, which looked surprisingly like the previous version of its long-term budget forecast.

It showed, as one might expect, that if the Bush tax-cuts remain in effect and Medicare and Medicaid spending isn't constrained in some way, the country will topple into a genuine fiscal crisis -- not the fake one the Congress is pretending the country's in right now.

Republicans, of course, seized on that particular projection, and claimed (a bit ridiculously) that it proved the government must adopt their precise policy views: major spending cuts, particularly to entitlement programs.

While all this -- from the findings to the politicization of them -- is perfectly expected, the forecast also presents another opportunity to remind people that the medium-term budget outlook is perfectly fine if Congress adheres to the law as it's currently written. That means no repealing the health care law, for one, but more significantly it means allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, and (unfathomably) allowing Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors to fall to the levels prescribed by the formula Congress wrote almost 15 years ago. In other words, no more "doc fixes."
Helpfully, CBO juxtaposed these two alternative futures in a pair of graphs and, just as last time, it projects that deficits will disappear entirely by the end of President Obama's second term (if he gets a second term) if Congress were to just sit on its hands and do nothing.

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Hmmm - so whats all the hub bub about?

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by classicman

Hmmm - so whats all the hub bub about?

Because there will always be something the Republicans can hold hostage to keep the Bush tax cuts from expiring.

[TheMercenary]

Interesting. But you know each side has their bevy of economic experts, all who disagree with each other.

[richlevy]

Unfortunately, the Republicans are threatening to withhold voting on the new debt ceiling unless the tax cuts are extended. Otherwise, I think both sides would be happy to let things run ahead.

[classicman]

What is there to hold hostage if there is no problem as the D's are saying?

[glatt]

increasing the debt limit.

The Dems aren't exactly correct that things are OK now. The debt limit needs to go up, or apparently the shit really hits the fan.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by classicman

What is there to hold hostage if there is no problem as the D's are saying?

Originally Posted by glatt

increasing the debt limit.

Or anything else that needs to pass. The budget, military appropriations, whatever.

The Dems aren't exactly correct that things are OK now. The debt limit needs to go up, or apparently the shit really hits the fan.

It isn't the Democrats saying everything's OK. This is the CBO saying that if the Bush tax cuts expire, and we allow the Medicare payments to doctors to drop to their statutory level, rather than the annual delay of that drop, then the deficit is fine.

The reason The Dems aren't saying everything is fine is because the chances of Congress doing nothing on those issues is low. Republicans won't let the Bush tax cuts expire, and Democrats won't let the docter fixes expire.

[ZenGum]

So, the one time you want congress to do nothing ...

[infinite monkey]

Oh hush, furriner.