Absent dramatic tax increases, spending on the elderly -- Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare health insurance -- will crowd out education, scientific research, transportation and other programs that boost economic competitiveness, experts say.
"There aren't any solutions that don't have at least some element of discomfort," said Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank. "Everyone says this needs to be done, but like climate change it's easy to put off until another year.
The "experts" range from the Third Way to AEI.