The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour
presented by
The Concord Coalition
Robert L. Bixby, Executive Director
www.concordcoalition.org
Social Security, Medicare, & Medicaid as a
Percentage of the Federal Budget
Social Security, Medicare
All other Federal
Spending
$1.6 Trillion
58%
Source: Congressional Budget Office
and Medicaid
$1.15 Trillion
42%
America’s Population is Aging
Percentage of Population Aged 65 and Over
Population age 65 and Over
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2007
2012
2017
2022
2027
Year
Source: Social Security and Medicare Trustees’ Report, April 2007
2032
2037
2042
2047
Health Care Costs are Rising Faster Than the Economy
All Federal Spending
In Fiscal Year 2006
25
Percentage of GDP
20
All Federal Revenues
In Fiscal Year 2006
15
10
5
0
2007
2012
2017
2022
2027
2032
2037
2042
2047
Year
Assumes that health care cost growth continues at the average rate for the past 40 years (2.5 percentage points
greater than GDP growth.)
Assumes that health care cost growth rate declines to 1.0 percentage point greater than GDP growth—consistent
with the assumption used by the Medicare Trustees.
Source: Congressional Budget Office, December 2005.
Composition of Actual FY 2006 Federal Government
Revenues and Outlays
(Deficit: $248 Billion)
2,750
2,500
Billions of Dollars
2,250
2,000
Interest
Other**
227
361
354
Domestic*
496
1,750
1,500
1,250
1,000
750
838
Defense
520
Medicare
& Medicaid
506
1044
500
250
28
143
Social
Security
544
Estate & Gift Taxes
Other Taxes
Corporate
Taxes
Social
Insurance
Taxes
Individual
Income
Taxes
0
Outlays: $2.65 trillion
Revenue: $2.41 trillion
*Includes all appropriated domestic spending such as education, transportation, homeland security, housing assistance, and foreign aid.
Source: CBO, Jan. 2007
**Includes all other mandatory spending such as military and civilian retirement and disability, supplemental security income, earned
income and child tax credits, food stamps, unemployment compensation, etc., minus off-setting receipts.
Federal Spending vs. Revenues as a
Percent of GDP (FY 1980-2006)
Percentage of GDP
24%
22%
Average outlays: 21%
20%
Average revenues: 18.3%
18%
16%
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
Fiscal Year
Revenues
Total Outlays
Source: Congressional Budget Office, August 2007 and Office of Management and Budget, 2007
2000
2002
2004
2006
Washington Needs a Fiscal Wake-Up Call From
“We The People”
•
The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour consists
of speakers from diverse
perspectives who are increasingly
alarmed by the nation’s long-term
fiscal outlook.
•
Our mission is to cut through the
usual partisan rhetoric and
stimulate a more realistic public
dialogue on what we want our
nation’s future to look like, along
with the required trade-offs.
•
Elected leaders in Washington
know there is a problem, but they
are unlikely to act unless their
constituents — We The People —
demand it.
Key Points of Agreement
Members of the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour do not necessarily
agree on the ideal levels of spending, taxes and debt,
but we do agree on the following key points:
• Current fiscal policy is unsustainable
• There are no free lunch solutions, such as cutting
waste fraud and abuse or growing our way out of the
problem.
• Finding solutions will require bipartisan cooperation
and a willingness to discuss all options.
• Public engagement and understanding is vital in
finding solutions.
• This is not about numbers. It is a moral issue.