Budget office sees debt wreck ahead over entitlements

1.    New York Time. (2013, September 18). Congress: Budget office sees debt wreck ahead over entitlements. Houston Chronicle, A/3.
2. Category of problem: Family
3. Level of problem: National Level
4. The article concerns: The Congressional Budget Office warns that the President and lawmakers have been cutting the wrong king of federal spending as they try to avoid unsustainable levels of debt in coming decades.
5. Why is this important to families / individuals OR how does it affect individuals / families?
1. The CBO projects that because of spending cuts and rising tax revenues, annual deficits will fall in the short term.  However, by the year of 2016, the office projected deficits will rise again as more agin baby boomers begin drawing from Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.  They predict that accumulated federal debt held by the public would reach 100 percent of GDP by the year 2038 at the present rate.
6. What are your views on the issue / policy?
1. The cross-the-aisle fighting between the Democrats and Republicans is getting worse and worse every day.  The Democrats, it seems, want to grow the government to a level that will make more Americans dependent on the "services" the government can provide them - food stamps, welfare, and disability, to name a few, along with the entitlements of Social Security and the rest.  The Republicans say they want to reduce the size of the government by cutting back or eliminating some of these entitlement programs, but have not shown much in the way of substance.  Most aging Americans depend on Social Security and Medicare to supplement their retirement incomes (if they have any other source), but the program is essentially bankrupt and probably cannot be sustained as the number of people entering the program increase year to year.  To keep funding these programs, appropriations for such things as the military will be reduced leaving the United States open to potential harm from international enemies.  It seems obvious to me that the place to cut back on entitlement spending is starting with those programs, like welfare, that provide no incentive for people to do anything except wait on a check instead of going out and looking for work.  I know there are people who are disabled or otherwise not in a position to work, but there needs to be provisions tied to receiving those benefits - i.e., drug tests - for the more able-bodied.  It is no wonder that the 50% of Americans paying taxes are fed up supporting the 50% who do not.  A crisis, or worse yet, a revolution, is brewing, and a government hell-bend on spending every dollar they receive plus all they can print is leading up to the day when the whole economy will eventually collapse.