"America is drowning in red ink. Washington is racking up record deficits, with no end in sight. Unless Congress changes its ways — and fast — they will spend this nation into the poorhouse.
Driving this fiscal meltdown are the three big entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. And the worst is Medicare.
Medicare is nearing insolvency faster than anticipated. The Medicare trustees’ report featured a stunning change from last year’s assessment: The hospitalization portion of Medicare will be exhausted by 2024 instead of 2029."
http://bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/2011_0527medicares_woes_terminal/

The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence