The real problem with Entitlement Reform is the unnecessary requirement for it in the USA.
The Republicans use "Entitlement Reform" as a rhetorical rant for their base. It is unrealistic and there is no reason for it in the USA.
One of the very favorite rhetorical reference is "We don't want to be Europe" or "We don't want to be Greece." That is comparing apples to oranges and it needs to change.
There is no comparison between Europe, Greece or even Canada to the GDP of the countries. The capacity of the USA to honor ALL it's promises is completely obvious. The reason the GOP won't accept "Chained CPI" as Entitlement Reform is because they don't really care about changing it, they want to get their hands on the trust fund that is a very different paradigm to dance.
When Bush was illegitimately placed back in office in 2004 due to the culture of fear in the USA promulgated by their illegitimate 2000 victory and complete and deliberate incompetency in protecting the nation; he demanded $2 Trillion US to begin the privatization of Social Security. He also passed Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare Recipients. Both those measures are an assault on the destruction of our Earned Benefit Programs AKA: Entitlements.
How can that be? Because the prescription drug program is a huge drag on Medicare and creates an incredible expenditure by the USA that helps "Entitlement" expenditure closer to 51% of the national budget. Bush also never included the USA military budget in any of his annual budget proposal. The USA military budget was always a measure passed separately. All those measures, moving monies out of the SSI Trust Program into the private sector, adding a Medicare Prescription Program and moving the DOD spending out of the annual national budget was a STRATEGY AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE to dissolve the Earned Benefit Programs/Entitlements.
Please come to understand I support the Medicare Prescription Drug Program and if duping the GOP into believing they were actually going to reach their 51% goal to destroy these programs actually created a necessary program than so be it. But, that at the time was the plan by the Republicans. They wanted to not only starve the beast of the USA government, but, they also wanted to starve the Earned Benefit Programs to 'get their hands on them' and dissolve them.
There is a provision in the Earned Benefit Programs that basically states if the programs are going to sink the country, then it becomes an issue of sovereignty and the programs can be changed and/or dissolved. So, when discussing Earned Income Programs/Entitlements in regard to Republicans, it is not about changing the programs, it is about destroying them.
The ONLY discussion I recognize when it comes to CHANGING the quantitative amounts of our Earned Benefit Programs is when those programs assault the sovereignty of the USA. Otherwise, the General Budget of the USA has abused the right of taking loans against these programs so often it is MORAL to demand any 'gap' in the programs are funded BACK to the trust funds.
The General Budget of the USA has been DEPENDENT in solvency of the Earned Benefit Programs and in NO WAY can these programs be defunded. It was a huge immorality by the Republicans after 2000 to squander the budget surplus on 'buying the political favor' of the American people by sending out checks. That surplus has a MORAL COVET by our Earned Benefit Programs. Where there NEEDS to be INVESTMENT by the GENERAL FUND to sustain these trust funds forever, I suggest everyone get busy!
End of Discussion.
