 |
| 2015 US discretionary spending for Social Security and other government programs. Infographic by Elisabeth Parker. |
We
just ran through the numbers for Congress’ wretched 2015 budget deal,
and can’t believe how much we’re spending on Social Security.
Even more
appalling are our outlays for education, health care, food stamps,
and other government programs.
We’re not spending nearly enough.
Take a look at the pie chart
(above) to see what’s wrong with this picture. We’re not spending nearly enough on Social Security and other safety net
programs.
Nor can this paltry budget — which doesn’t even accurately account
for the rising cost of living — do anything towards rebuilding our nation’s
crumbling infrastructure or spurring innovation and economic growth.
Republicans love saying we don’t have enough
money to cover the essential public functions shown on this pie chart, but
that’s a lie. Back in mid-twentieth century America, our higher (but still
comparatively modest) tax rates on corporations and one percenters fueled
innovation and a broadly-shared prosperity never known to mankind before, or
since.
During
the prosperous years of the mid-twentieth century (1950-1970), we also spent
way too much money on our military. But at least other spending helped balance
it out. Now, we lavish money on a military that commits humanitarian outrages
around the world while failing to care for its own soldiers, and have little
left for anything else.
Meanwhile, the following
essential programs remain underfunded for the third decade in a row:
(10) Social Security, unemployment, and labor ($56.1
billion): Social Security, unemployment, and labor only
gets a scant 4.8 percent from this budget in a time of high
(albeit dwindling) unemployment (assuming you count crappy low-wage jobs
at McDonalds and Walmart as “employment”). Americans pay directly into federal
funds for social security, disability, and unemployment insurance, yet
Republicans in Congress sneeringly call them “entitlements,” as though we
aren’t actually entitled to them.
(9) Medicare and health ($56.7 billion): Medicare and Obamacare (aka the ACA) are two
other programs that Republicans love to attack because they hate anything that
improves the quality of life for their fellow Americans, no matter how
efficient, well-run, and cost-effective these programs are. And the heck
with flu vaccines and other public health initiatives. The GOP would
rather just cast sick and elderly people away on an ice floe to die
in some quiet, invisible way that doesn’t annoy them.
(8) Food & Agriculture ($12.8 billion): Conservatives in Congress love
bashing food stamp recipients as “lazy” even though a lot of them actually
do work, and simply don’t get paid enough. And despite the horrifying fact that 25 percent of US children now live in poverty — a record level
here, and a much higher rate than in other developed nations — the
GOP apparently wants them to starve. “Please, sir, can
I have some more?”
(7) Veterans benefits ($65.5 billion): This seems generous, until you
consider that a quick stroll through your local homeless encampment will
swiftly reveal how badly our nation for our veterans. Alas, the skills our
soldiers gain while serving in the military don’t translate well to the outside
world, regardless of what all those ads and campus recruiters promise. Alas,
Walmart doesn’t need as many armored tank drivers and ballistics specialists as
you’d think.
(6) Science ($29.2 billion): Forget
about the days when America led the world in technology and
innovation. The pathetic $29.2 billion we spend on science not only won’t
spawn the next Internet, we’ll be lucky if that level of funding allows us
to keep up with the latest flu virus mutations.
(5) Energy & the Environment ($38.4 billion): Once
you subtract all those fossil fuel incentives and subsidies, there’s very
little left to develop renewable energy sources and promote an environment that’s
actually habitable for humans in the near future. Then again, the world is
barely habitable for humans now.
(4) Government ($63.9 billion): Since
we’re cutting back on government programs, we won’t need government
employees to keep them running. Except for the ones who process
unemployment applications. We’ll need more of those.
(3) Transportation ($26.1 billion): Who
needs roads, trains, and public transit? Once the US government lays everyone
off and corporations ship all the jobs overseas, nobody will need to go
anywhere anyway. But that’s okay, we can just hunker down in our bunkers and
breed our New World Army.
(2) Housing & Community ($60.9 billion): Like food stamps, federal programs
that help low-to-middle-income folks afford to rent or purchase homes are
under attack, even though 30 years of conservative policies have caused
more people to need help in the first place.
(1) International Affairs ($38.2 billion):When
military intervention doesn’t do the job, or causes bad PR, our leaders can schmooze
the right people or make a thoughtful gesture. Perhaps we should fold this into
the military budget, but we can’t, because it’s already so bloated.
Social Security has always
been solvent and can continue meeting its obligations if we continue supporting
the program as a nation. Even if we don’t agree with a government-run insurance
system for retirement and disability, it’s what we’ve got, and we need to honor
our promises.
When you look at the US
government’s total 2015 budget of $3.9 trillion, Social Security accounts for
$1.33 trillion (33.6 percent) and Medicare accounts for $1.05 trillion (26.6
percent). But that spending is far less lavish than it seems, when you consider
that all working Americans pay for —
or have paid for
— Medicare, Social Security, and unemployment insurance.
But
despite the fact that we’ve all bought and paid into this federally-run
insurance system that provides a safety net of last resort for when we get laid
off or get too old or too sick to work, these programs are constantly under
assault by Republicans. In fact, the GOP attacks and chips away at nearly
all government programs that once made America among the best places in the
world to live, and then manages to convince Americans that education and other
programs aren’t working.
The only program Republicans
want to fund is the military: But, of course not the programs that
help bring soldiers from low income backgrounds into the middle class, and not
the programs that care for the veterans we’ve destroyed.