The Entitlement Myth

Mark Schmitt wrote for the New York Times about the presidential candidates' proposed entitlement reforms:

Now that the full cycle of debates has come to an end, there is at least one clear winner: the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Two questions in the vice-presidential debate, along with two from Chris Wallace in last night’s presidential showdown, referred to the committee, which is devoted to deficit reduction, and treated its analyses and proposals as matters of settled fact.

Near the end of the debate, Mr. Wallace declared, “The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has looked at both of your plans, and they say neither of you has a serious plan that is going to solve the fact that Medicare’s going to run out of money in the 2020s, Social Security is going to run out of money in the 2030s.” Mr. Wallace went on to suggest that only a “grand bargain” combining tax increases with Medicare and Social Security benefit cuts could solve the problem.