The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Will Someone Please Tell the President that Uncle Sam is Broke?

The Spectacle Blog

Will Someone Please Tell the President that Uncle Sam is Broke?

By Doug Bandow on 10.17.09 @ 3:36AM

Obviously, the president doesn't get it. He keeps proposing more spending. Now it is more money for seniors since inflation is down so there's no COLA increase for Social Security.

Reports the Washington Post:

President Obama on Wednesday attempted to preempt the announcement that Social Security recipients will not get an increase in their benefit checks for the first time in three decades, encouraging Congress to provide a one-time payment of $250 to help seniors and disabled Americans weather the recession.

Uncle Sam ran a $1.4 trillion deficit in FY2009. Just where is the money for a new payment going to come from? Heck, there's no reason to stop with retirees. Why not just give everyone in America a million dollars? That should solve all of our problems.

About the Author

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).