The Reality of Nightmares

[Sam1]

In his 12/8 Washington Post column, Ezra Klein says, “Projected deficits are driven by two factors: health-care-costs and old people.” He goes on to suggest, quite logically it seems, that in order to pay for all the health-care services elderly American’s are going to require, tax rates will to have to be raised so high they’ll begin “doing real damage to the economy”, or deficits will “grow to the point that they cause a fiscal crisis.”

What’s odd about this is that it sounds to me like a huge, growth-industry opportunity: lots of customers (old people) needing lots of services and facilities (nursing-care, hospital beds, heart monitors, breathing tubes, etc.) I could well imagine that if we truly embraced the need to provide all these services and facilities, it might grow our GDP by four or five percent. Just taking really good care of old people—feeding them, reading to them, taking them for walks, massaging their feet, helping them grow tomatoes—could likely lower the national unemployment rate by three or four percentage points.

In his 12/8 Washington Post column, Ezra Klein says, “Projected deficits are driven by two factors: health-care-costs and old people.” He goes on to suggest, quite logically it seems, that in order to pay for all the health-care services elderly American’s are going to require, tax rates will to have to be raised so high they’ll begin “doing real damage to the economy”, or deficits will “grow to the point that they cause a fiscal crisis.”
What’s odd about this is that it sounds to me like a huge, growth-industry opportunity: lots of customers (old people) needing lots of services and facilities (nursing-care, hospital beds, heart monitors, breathing tubes, etc.) I could well imagine that if we truly embraced the need to provide all these services and facilities, it might grow our GDP by four or five percent. Just taking really good care of old people—feeding them, reading to them, taking them for walks, massaging their feet, helping them grow tomatoes—could likely lower the national unemployment rate by three or four percentage points

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2012/12/the-reality-of-nightmares.html

[upaloopa]

1. I'm learning a lot about myself here at DU that

I didn't know. Since turning 66 and getting Medicare part A and social security that I have become a less risk adverse conservative and am the reason for the deficit since I may need health care in the near future.
I think I'll stick around so I can get more blame hung on me like ornaments on a Xmas tree.

[TForbster]

2. Health Care For All

[fasttense]

3. That is such a load of crap.

Ezra Klein says, “Projected deficits are driven by two factors: health-care-costs and old people.”

We would NOT have a deficit today if NOT for 3 things:

1. Unfunded wars and more defense spending and wars and defense contractor spending and wars.

2. The bushes tax give away to the uber rich and the extension of those give aways.

3. The 2nd RepubliCON Great Depression and crash, or as some call it the RepubliCON Great Recession.

Taking away benefits and letting the elderly starve to death and die from curable diseases does NOT address a single cause of the federal deficit.

[cbrer]

4. ++

Simple facts that the Democratic party is not mentioning nearly often enough.

Why do you suppose that is?