I should not have used the phrase "All"..but most economists say it was a mistake to downgrade..also I love how you conveniently ignore Bush's spending was was out of control with two unfunded wars, and the senior drug prescription program which was unfunded as well....
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/08/139080051/economists-share-thoughts-on-credit-downgrade?ft=1&f=1001
again/....keep trying
The "unfunded prescription drug program" is better known as Medicare part D. The individual monthly premium one pays for this in addition to the premium they pay for Medicare starts at about $40 a month and goes up, depending on the plan and the provider you choose. Medicare premiums are currently right at $100. per month. So together Medicare with part prescription part D runs $140 or more per month per person.
My wife and I purchase an Enhanced Medicare Advantage plan at a current cost of $127. a month each. So in other words we pay about $227. each for Medicare with an added drug plan. Our co-pays for prescriptions are currently $5. for each generic drug and more for non-generic drugs or drugs not on the Medicare formulary.
I am not sure how, given the combined cost of premiums and co-pays, Medicare part D can be considered unfunded. What is there to fund? We are paying for the coverage we get. It would be interesting to know what, if anything, government pays for this coverage. Like any insurance plan, some folks are heavy users and thus expensive to insure. Others, like me, pay out much more in premiums then we can ever recoup in medical expense savings. Essentially, I pay for some other high users medical costs to the insurer....in my case Medicare and Regence Blue Cross. This model is the same as it is with private medical insurance.
Another thing that is interesting about Medicare part D is that should one decide to opt out and later change their mind and sign up for it, they must pay a penalty for not having signed up when they were first eligible, thus insuring that low users like me are going to be in the plan, paying some of the cost of the high users.
This may be more than you wanted to know. It is easier just to believe the rhetoric spewed out by various political extremist then it is to actually research and know the facts.
