Samuelson: The End of Government

The Washington Post's Robert Samuelson writes about the interface between economics and public policy. In an article for RealClearPolitics, he describes the impact welfare state spending will have on the rest of government:

An aging population and higher health spending automatically increase budget outlays, which induce the president and Congress to curb spending on almost everything else, from defense to food stamps.

The welfare state is taking over government. It's strangling government's ability to respond to other national problems and priorities, because the constituencies for welfare benefits, led by Social Security's 57 million, are more numerous and powerful than their competitors for federal support.

Both liberals and conservatives are complicit in this charade, but liberals are more so because their unwillingness to discuss Social Security and Medicare benefits candidly is the crux of the budget stalemate. This refusal is rich in irony: The pro-government party in rhetoric has become an anti-government party in practice.

I'm afraid Samuelson is correct; so-called "entitlements" are untouchable in the present political climate. And our population continues to grow older, making the problem worse.