The Observation Deck

Simple question:

Why do you think you are entitled to entitlements?

That has to be one of the very best questions every asked.

Because they would not be called entitlements if I was not entitled to them...

How do you define entitlements?

Will Brown wrote:How do you define entitlements?

I didn't actually think about that, Will. I suppose that could be a point-of-view judgment.

I think I'd like to hear how people define entitlement as well.

I don't really use the word...but for reference...

Main Entry: en·ti·tle·ment
Pronunciation: \-ˈtī-təl-mənt\
Function: noun
Date: 1942
1 a : the state or condition of being entitled : right b : a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract
2 : a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group; also : funds supporting or distributed by such a program
3 : belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges

I think today it is politically used to refer to payments or benefits given to a person because of status or membership in a group.

Is the salary of a government employee an entitlement; I would say no because they earn it with their labor. The COLAs they get are more like an entitlement.

Is the GI bill an entitlement; I would say no because the veteran earned that with his qualifying service. Again, however, COLAs they get seem like entitlements.

Is Social Security an entitlement; again I say no because you paid for it (its being a Ponzi scheme of shocking magnitude is no fault of the workers; lay that at FDRs door). But the COLAs seem like an entitlement; contrast Social Security with an annuity you buy from an Insurance company.

Medicaid? To me that seems like an entitlement as it goes only to a selected group (those who are economically distressed and ill), while others who paid the taxes may never get it.

I'd be curious to know how eliminating COLAs would affect the budget and the national debt, not that any politician would have the guts to press for that.

Is social security really any different than private home insurance?
I mean, with homeowners insurance, you pay into a pot and expect to get paid when you have damages. With SSI, you pay into a pot and expect to get paid when you retire.
So is private homeowners or car insurance an entitlement as well?

Did it ever occur to you bean counters that those that receive Medicaid have paid for it also and may pay again?

Don't assume anything.

Mike Coleman wrote:Is social security really any different than private home insurance?
I mean, with homeowners insurance, you pay into a pot and expect to get paid when you have damages. With SSI, you pay into a pot and expect to get paid when you retire.
So is private homeowners or car insurance an entitlement as well?

I would say for the purposes of this discussion, no they aren't. Under definition 2 of J Hrlec's posting, there is an implication of government providing the benefit.

Private insurance differs from entitlements because is is a voluntary agreement. You don't have to buy insurance, and the insurance company does not have to sell it to you. And if they sell it to you, your cost will reflect the likelihood of your making a claim; i.e., if you have a history of accidents, you will probably pay more than someone with no history. You don't have a choice of participating in, for example, Social Security, and the government does not have a choice of whether to allow you to participate, although they can apparently exclude illegal immigrants in some situations.

Those of us who work, or are self-employed, pay a hefty FICA tax, the proceeds of which are put into "trust funds" (in fact are loaned to the government rather than invested) and are used to pay for Social Security and Medicare if we live long enough to become entitled.

I know of no tax that is dedicated to funding medicaid; it is more like a welfare program. Just where do they get their funding?

I think in general usage Social Security and Medicare are considered entitlements, but I don't view them that way. I see them as mismanaged insurance programs, although the open endedness of Medicare is troubling unless something is done to contain the costs of medical treatment. We just got a medicare notice; my wife had a blood test, with multiple panels, and the bill was $714. Medicare paid $127, and her secondary insurer will pay $11, and apparently everyone will be satisfied. But without insurance, we would have had to pay $714, and it is hard to believe that these procedures can't be done for far far less than that. But where is our incentive to shop around, as long as Medicare and her insurer are paying? I read an article that a physician in India does open heart surgery for $1000, with quality comparable to such surgeries in the US, where they typically cost from $50,000 to over $100,000.

The amount you get from Social Security is said to be related to how much you, or the person on whom your entitlement is based (such as a spouse), paid in taxes, but in fact they skew the payments so low earners get a bit more, vis a vis their contributions, than high earners. and they also reduce your Social Security if you were industrious enough to qualify under two federal retirement programs. I'm a bit curious as to whether those exempted from Social Security, such as state and local employees, are under similar restrictions.

COLAs and increasing medical costs are what are causing much of our budget problems. Its hard enough to structure a government budget when you don't know how much your income will be. nor how many additional costs you will have to cover, and the problem is made worse when you put millions of more people into medical plans that are already losing money, while adding costs to medical insurance, and making absolutely no effort to address increasing medical costs.

If properly administered, people do not leave medicaid, as it should not be approved unless the impairment is permanent and total. I suppose they could become ineligible if they won the lottery, assuming they reported the income. I wish the bean eaters around here would try dealing with facts.

the american way of life is non negotiable.

Bush or Cheney said that.

We are all entitled to cars with a lot of horsepower,
highways, and shopping malls.

don't worry about the externalized costs.

If Iraq costs 2 trillion...Iran will cost at least 6 trillion.

The American way of life is non negotiable.