Few Americans Understand that Today's Public Debt Problems Started Decades Ago

I decided tonight to discuss a recent poll conducted by Rasmussen instead of stagflation and Congress.  I'll save those topics for tomorrow.

Anyway, the reason I wanted to discuss the Rasmussen poll is because it shows how ignorant the voting American is in terms of government entitlements and welfare programs.  Here is the link to the report:  http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/federal_budget/april_2011/just_23_realize_deficit_largely_due_to_commitments_made_in_1960s_and_70s.

As the article mentioned (and I have made similar points before) today's entitlement problems are the results of previous generations' failures.  In 1965, President Johnson ordered the creation of Medicare and Medicaid to provide the poor and the elderly with funding for healthcare.  Social Security, created in 1935, was created to be a safety net for poor and down-trodden individuals.  These programs have been allowed to gradually evolve into monstrous, $2.7 trillion government behemoths that are crushing working and younger people while essentially making 60 million Americans dependent on the government (see: http://eaynuf.blogspot.com/2011/04/usa-today-americans-are-incredibly.html).  These entitlement issues are the direct results of our predecessors' lack of leadership and wisdom.

(Note: I do believe these programs have noble goals, but they definitely need substantial restructuring in terms of benefits and funding practices).

What is irritating about our current issues is the fact that these programs have been around for a long time, but, they have not been restructured for the future.  As the aforementioned article pointed out, previous generations of leaders (especially those during the late 60's and 70's) have put today's workers in a bind by miscalculating benefits for retirees and welfare recipients and doing nothing to fix those errors.  Essentially, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid have been around for about 50 years (Social Security has been around much longer than that), yet, due to the language of the laws, goals of the programs, and lack of political willpower, they have not been reformed.

The shame is that things did not need to go this far.  If small, commonsense reforms (in terms of benefits reductions, age increases, etc.) had been made a few decades ago, I would probably not be writing this post.

An even more-irritating aspect of this report is the lack of understanding on the part of voting-age people.  Only 23% understand the substantial destructive momentum the aforementioned entitlements have been gaining for decades.  Now, those social programs are incredibly massive; their existence is placing an enormous burden on the backs of hardworking, younger Americans, and citizens do not seem to know who to blame.  (It's really simple: blame and punish (financially) those who came before us and did nothing to reign in these government expenditures).

The most irritating part of all this, though, is that the same people who failed to reform these programs will be some of the last ones to benefit greatly from them.  I really cannot think of a more unjust outcome.

Given the general public's ignorance and indifference, I do not see a good end to this situation.  The only way things change is if people (especially us youths) get educated, angry and proactive.