End Medicare - Andrew C. McCarthy - National Review Online

The operative quote - and this is a very well written piece about Medicare and it's history all taxpayers should read -:

"Medicare is a scam. The people who designed and perpetuated it would be serving more jail time than Bernie Madoff if they pulled a fraud like it in the private sector. As it is for the victims Madoff swindled, so it is for we who’ve been swindled by Washington: The money is gone. We can make provisions for the needy elderly who are about to hit eligibility and have relied on Medicare in their assumptions. But the party is over — and the sooner we grasp that, the fewer victims there will be.
Preserving a scam in the vain hope of making it less offensive may be well-meaning, but it’s not right, and it’s not courageous."

My first thought is to substitute "Social Security" anywhere there is a "Medicare" since I consider both scams. So if this was a private investor who scammed me out of my money I would be talking to them about, "What is it that you do have for me to compensate me for my loss?" "That or jail time, which shall it be?" Well I believe this is the answer for taxpayers, yes you - The Federal Government - the bureaucracy - and our representatives - long dead socialists shysters have scammed us, "So what do you have for us to compensate us for your incompetence, lying and stealing?" "It's that or go to jail" "So how about - at 65 years of age as long as I never take a penny of Social Security, pay for my own medical needs out of my own pocket, ah, lets see, um, I don't ever have to file a federal tax return or have any federal taxes or medicare taken out of my paycheck whether I am working or not!" This means all I file is a tax exemption form with an attached document from Social Security and Medicare stating I am 65 or older and have not accessed either program for that year. The minute I use either program I fall back into the "regular tax scam" called the "Tax Code." Or we could offer a stepped approach you don't use Social Security but you access medicare then you pay half federal taxes no social security and full medicare taxes. If you use Social Security but not Medicare then vise versa. The point is you scammed us, you - bureaucrats and politicians - said it would be solvent the money would be there, it is not so we want a real "New Deal" without your dirty corrupt hands controlling our retirements and old age.

So I can think of three arguments against - "It would be unfair to those who have to stay on Social Security and Medicare!" How is a scam fair in the first place? Now some may say it is unequal and it is, but the alternative is no Social Security and Medicare security for those who need it, and that would also be just as unequal.

The second argument is that what about those paying into the system how is it fair to them. My answer is there are two parts to deconstructing Social Security and Medicare. The first is the payees the baby boomers who were born in the middle of the last century - which I addressed above, they were the ones the grand promises were made to by long dead socialists shysters and who paid into both these programs from the day they began working - and the payers who were born in the eighties and nineties of the last century and they have not been promised anything and probably believe they will never draw anything from these entitlement programs. These are two separate problems which when combine make up Social Security and Medicare. They are also two different mind sets - one an expectation of deservedness and the other and expectation of unjustness. So the incentive for those paying into Social Security to do something different will be different from those who are receiving payments. So the answer is to offer an incentive as lucrative to the payer as the incentive to the payee.

The third argument is: "We will always need Social Security and Medicare. The stock market, retirement plans and medical costs are unreliable and most Americans cannot manage this by themselves, why look at the situation we are in right now the Stock Market is down, retirees are not making any interest on their accounts, etc., etc., etc!" (Sound of gnashing of teeth, wailing and bemoaning) And how is that going - which institution is in the news right now predicted to default - the stock market or, or, or the federal government! So much for reliability! And why is it that countries are not buying US treasury securities, yes you guessed it they are worthless! But the Stock Market is up. So the answer as always is to give American citizens an incentive to go it alone without the federal governments interference.

My mindset for all voters when listening to politicians speak about solving Social Security and Medicares insolvency; if they are not talking about fundamental change from the last century model of government managed to the 21st model of citizen managed they should turn away and listen for the lonesome voice for real change.