By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
In responding to a question at a Senior Forum about whether he would vote to raise our country’s debt ceiling, U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger presented an interesting analogy.
The Senior Forum was held yesterday at the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that we manage in Manteno, Illinois. Congressman Kinzinger represents the 11th Congressional District in Illinois.
If you are the parents of children who have maxed out the credit limits on the two credit cards that you have given them, would you give them a third credit card so they could continue to rack up debt. Would you not, instead, work with them to get them on a path to correct the spending problem and get debt under control.
If legislation to increase the debt limit came to him today, “I would vote no.” But, Rep. Kinzinger noted, that the debt limit crisis provides the opportunity to make major structural changes in Washington.
“We are spending entirely too much money,” he said, adding that “forty-two cents of every dollar we spend is borrowed money.” The more debt, the higher the interest costs, which in turn adds to the debt.
If both the federal government and the military were shut down, there would still be a deficit of $200 billion this year.
He talked about the impact that the new members of the House and Senate have had since being sworn into office in January. A year ago, the talk in Washington, D.C., was about a second stimulus bill, and up until January about spending increases. The President, in his State of the Union address, called for a spending freeze. Now, the talk is about who can spend less.
He said that the recent $38 billion in budget cuts that were approved to avoid a government shutdown “were not everything I wanted,” but was a “good first step.”
His biggest personal desires are that “we can get to the point where we can disagree on policy but love each other as countrymen” who want the United States to succeed and that “2011 is the Year America Woke-Up.”
“If there is any country that can turn it around, it is our country,” he said.
Here are other random comments from Congressman Kinzinger during his presentation and response to questions that I thought would be of interest:
Social Security
Washington has not been telling you the truth. One of the reasons Social Security is in trouble is that in the past when Social Security ran a surplus, the federal government took the surplus, spent it and wrote an IOU to itself.
Another key reason is that when Social Security was approved, the retirement age was 65 and life expectancy in the United States was 62. Few people lived to the age required to receive Social Security benefits. (Life expectancy today is in the upper 70s).
Social Security is the easiest issue to fix. It should be the issue that Republicans and Democrats get together to work on this year.
Medicare
In the next ten years, Medicare is expected to be broke. We have to begin making some changes now.
The changes would affect those who currently are under the age of 55. “If you are 55 or older, you are on the current Medicare system for the rest of your life.”
Health Care Reform
Obama Care eliminates the Medicare Advantage plans.
We still need to have the ability to sue a doctor, but tort reform is needed. There is not only the direct impact of the costs of the lawsuits, but also the indirect costs of defensive medicine.
He cited the cost for medical malpractice insurance for a new orthopedic physician he knows as $350,000 a year (which comes to nearly $1,000 a day assuming the physician works every day of the year).
Doctors are having to see more patients to keep their practices viable, which means they have less time to spend with their patients.
Immigration
I am dumbfounded about why we cannot secure our border.
The Price of Gasoline
For every one dollar increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline, we are taking $140 billion out of our economy and sending it overseas, in many cases to countries that don’t like us.
The Congressman wanted those in the 11th Congressional District who have an issue with any federal program to know that they should contact his office at 815-729-2308.
We appreciated his willingness to speak and respond to questions at the Senior Forum and welcome your comments.
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
