Here are two Reno men who tell it like it is and have the guts to solve the problem, Ty Cobb and Frank Partlow. Their articles follow.

TIME TO REDUCE BENEFITS FOR ALL OF US

The United States and the State of Nevada together are facing budget deficits that threaten the financial viability of the country and the state. The national debt is reaching unprecedented levels– this year alone it will reach a record $1.6 trillion, due to the weak economy, higher spending, and renewed tax cuts.

At the national level, combined expenditures on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are projected to account for 45% of federal spending, up from 27% in 1975. That entitlement spending could triple by 2035. When defense spending, interest on the debt, and federal pensions are added in, this accounts for 86% of federal spending. Interest on the debt currently costs $200 billion annually, but if nothing is done, in just five years the interest on this debt will triple to around $640 billion.

Nevada does not have the luxury of printing money to cover budget deficits, and must have a budget that is balanced. The Governor is set to accomplish that by severe spending cuts and not raising taxes. His opponents in the Legislature have squawked loudly, but have yet to offer an alternative plan. The target of the Governor’s cuts are personnel, since that is where the lion’s share of expenditures go, with a focus on reigning in overly-generous pensions, benefits and salaries, a problem that is even greater at the local government level.

Government employees must be prepared to accept reductions in retirement pensions and pay much more for health benefits. That goes not only for local and state employees, but those who work for or are retired from the federal government, including military retirees. The Defense budget is not sustainable and will have to be reduced in the future, especially to offset soaring retirement and health benefit costs.

Those of us who have reached 65 and are now receiving Social Security and Medicare must also be prepared to accept changes—means testing of Social Security perhaps, more paid in doctor visits and prescriptions. Yes, I know, we who have paid money into the system for decades in good faith have reason to protest while those who have been less thrifty in planning their retirements will not be penalized. It is what it is—not fair, not fair at all, but it must be done.

And those of us who served in the military can make the point that our service was much more demanding and difficult. I, for one, had two tours in Viet-Nam in my 26 years—living in the swamps, fighting off the VC and cobras alike, separated from our families for a year at a time (I only saw my first-born one week the first year of her life!). We moved 17 times our first 13 years of marriage, I worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in my 6 years in the White House. No overtime, no sick leave, no padding my retirement with phony “call backs” or special health programs (oh, I do go to the VA, but to participate in an Agent Orange tracking program for those of us exposed to the dangerous defoliant).

Still, the nation cannot afford the entitlement programs that I and many others are eligible for. The state, and especially local governments, is on the verge of a financial crisis and personnel costs, particularly benefits and retirement, must be roped in. It is happening in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Indiana and other states where budgets can only be balanced by reigning in benefits for government employees. GOV Sandoval says it must also happen here, and he is right, but at all levels of government.

It ain’t nice, it isn’t pretty, but it must be done.

-Tyrus W. Cobb

Former Special Assistant to the President, Republished from Nevada Appeal

By Frank Partlow

I can barely spell it, but I am a Septuagenarian.  At 72, I receive a federal pension for 34 years of Army service, Social Security, Medicare, Tricare and VA benefits.   I believe I am “entitled” to all of that.  Septuagenarians disagree on many issues, but not on their “entitlements.”

These entitlements are unsustainable.  My federal paymaster is $14.5 trillion in debt and borrowing $1.5 trillion more each year.  72 million entitled “Boomers” are right behind.  Social Security is a “Ponzi Scheme” which makes Bernie Madoff blush.  I receive as benefits what three current workers pay in.  What happens when there are two workers paying in?  More federal debt.

The only way to fix the deficit and balance the federal budget is to reduce current and future entitlements, which account for 62% of budget outlays and grow each year.  Septuagenarians and Boomers not only cringe at this idea, they vow to unseat any politician foolish enough to suggest it.  The problem with that approach is that while they may live long enough to collect, their children and grandchildren will not, even while facing crushing new taxes.

A better way is for each generation to take a hit—mine by some sort of means test for Social Security payments. The Boomers could delay their retirement to say, age 70.  Those still paying Social Security taxes could pay in a higher percentage of their salary. We are the only country in the world without age limits on medical procedures, an enormous drain on our Medicare and Medicaid, as health care costs grow by nine percent per year.  The potential list of reductions is virtually as endless as the nature of “entitlements” themselves.

When Social Security began, the oldest US generation was the poorest.  In part by taking mortgage interest rate deductions on their income taxes for thirty or more years, Septuagenarians are now the richest.  Can that continue?

Our parents were called the “Greatest Generation” for getting the US through the Great Depression and World War ll.   One can argue about that title, but they did get themselves out of their own jams.  My generation won’t even come close to doing that. Septuagenarians must understand that our world, its mores, beliefs, facts and fictions are irrelevant.

We septuagenarians are very opinionated.  We caused the problems we now face.  Yet, we expect the 50 year olds now in public office to jump at to our solutions. Perspective is the only thing we have to contribute.  Experience yields perspective and is what you get while you are looking for something else. Our perspectives will help those younger generations understand that if they do what we did, they will get what we got.  They can ignore our advice. However, they will live with their decisions and we will not.

With the wisdom of experience and perspective, my generation should lead the way.  If, however, we are unwilling to sacrifice some of what was heretofore promised, we will deserve to be called what we will have become: the “Selfish Generation.”

Special Report for the Northern Nevada Network.

Frank Partlow is a Nevada veteran since 1964 who now lives in downtown Reno