Medicare, Medicaid, and S.S.

Well Said

I like Ron Paul's idea where you can choose whether or not you want to participate in these programs. If you want Social Security when you retire, you pay for Social Security. If you don't want the benefits, then you don't pay into the program. 

The only problem with that, is that SS isn't working like they thought it would (Big surprise, eh?) You were supposed to pay over time, and then then that money would grow over time and be there for you in the future. However, in actuality when you pay SS you are paying for the people who are currently collecting it - there is no growing and saving. Therefor, if people were able to opt out of the system entirely, the Gov. wouldn't have enough money to pay the people currently collecting. And of course those currently collecting, deserve to collect it since they paid for it their whole lives. 

Ron Paul suggested we make up that difference by drastically cutting the amount of money we spend over seas for our empire. 

Um, what?

1. Google "the three legged stool." SS was never meant to replace private savings.

2. SS is not a savings account, it is an income transfer system that ensures that people over reitrement age do not end up siphoning wages of of living relatives in the case of financial hardcome. The government will always priorize private saving for retirement. Hench tax-free 401k and IRA contributions. Even Bush's most conservative advisors failed it privatizing social security. It will never happen.

3. Ending federal spending would not be able to be directly funnelled into the other services you mention. You grossly misunderstand the funding schema of both Medicare and Medicaid if you think that is true. There are a lot of very simple guides out there that explain it. Medicaid funds could POSSIBLY be used for such services, as it is jointly funded by state and federal dollars, but this would vary by state, depending on their local tax codes.

4. Healt savings programs (which you also fundamentally misunderstand, as per your explanation), have also been shown to be very very ineffective for those who experience "catastrophic" health events, such as cancer, or a grave accident. You know who is 100% guaranteed to experience "catastrophic" health events. Medicare recipients, because Medicare recipients are old, and EVERYBODY DIES.