When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1Corinthians 13:11
Obama Signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
It was an historic moment, reminiscent of one that took place nearly 45 years earlier on July 30, 1965, when LBJ (D), in his proudest moment, signed legislation into law amending Social Security to create Medicare. This time, surrounded by the faithful, President Obama (D) used 20 signing pens to create mementos of the historic moment for each believer.
On the radio, news reporters spoke in hushed terms, describing exhultant Ds at the ceremony and reactionary Rs determined to overturn the historic measure. As I listened, I wondered what this must all seem like to children today. Do they wonder, as I had 45 years ago as a child, why politicians fight so much if making life better is as easy as passing a bill? Do the children also marvel at the President's magnificent ability to improve life with the stroke of a pen?
Would LBJ have believed when he created Medicare 45 years ago, that its $89 trillion in unfunded liabilities in 2010 would make it the greatest single threat to the financial health of the US government?[1] Now as an adult, I wonder how the believers surrounding President Obama could be so blind to the parallels. Do they really think their efforts will turn out any different than LBJ's Medicare?
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[1] "Social Security and Medicare Projections: 2009," Thursday, June 11, 2009, by Pamela Villarreal, (Accessed at http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba662 on March 23, 2010).
One year before Villarreal's article was written, when Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher spoke of Medicare in San Francisco, the bill was $4 trillion less:
"Please sit tight while I walk you through the math of Medicare. As you may know, the program comes in three parts: Medicare Part A, which covers hospital stays; Medicare B, which covers doctor visits; and Medicare D, the drug benefit that went into effect just 29 months ago. The infinite-horizon present discounted value of the unfunded liability for Medicare A is $34.4 trillion. The unfunded liability of Medicare B is an additional $34 trillion. The shortfall for Medicare D adds another $17.2 trillion. The total? If you wanted to cover the unfunded liability of all three programs today, you would be stuck with an $85.6 trillion bill. That is more than six times as large as the bill for Social Security. It is more than six times the annual output of the entire U.S. economy."
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