Entitlement spending Soars

The Kansas City Star reports on the fiscal wake up tour :

It is the next stop in the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, organized by the Concord Coalition. It will include speakers with diverse perspectives from the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation.

The basic facts are a matter of arithmetic, not ideology. Over the next 25 years the percentage of the population aged 65 and older will grow by 50 percent, while the number of workers is estimated to rise by only 13 percent.

This reflects a permanent transformation to an older population — and a permanent rise in the cost of programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which already comprise 42 percent of the federal budget.

Demographic change is only part of the problem. Health-care costs, which continue to outpace economic growth, also play a big role. If historic growth rates persist, by 2050 Medicare and Medicaid will absorb as much of our nation’s economy as the entire federal budget does today. Without a change in policy, today’s 20-year-olds can expect that by the time they retire the size of government as a share of the economy will be roughly twice its current size.

It's good to know that Congress is concerned that Warren Buffett not eat cat food.So what's the magic number when most of Congress wakes up? Will 50% of the budget have to go to Social Security,Medicare and Medicaid? Or 60%?