Two Friday Afternoon Reads
Before the weekend begins, two items I wanted to pass on. The first comes from Charlie Cook’s National Journal column today, entitled “Too Good to Last,” about Medicare’s unsustainable condition. Cook cites a study released by the Urban Institute in January highlighting that at virtually all income brackets, seniors receive many times more in benefits than they pay out in taxes. For instance, male would-be beneficiaries turning 65 this year will receive an average $110,000 more in benefits than in taxes paid, and women turning 65 this year will receive a net average lifetime benefit of $131,000. The graphical description of that study is below, and perfectly illustrates why Medicare needs fundamental reform.
Finally, this morning’s CongressDaily featured an excellent column on the unpopularity of the health care law, based in large part on Democrats’ strategic miscalculation to ram through the 2700-page measure despite public outrage.
