[19980128]97-39EPW_权利辩论.pdf

Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS Web97-39 EPWUpdated January 28, 1998The Entitlements DebateDavid Stuart KoitzSpecialist in Social LegislationEducation and Public Welfare DivisionSummaryFederal entitlement programs make payments directly to recipients who meeteligibility criteria set by law. There are about 400 of them with Social Security beingthe largest. Generally, entitlement spending is not subject to control through annualappropriations, and once an entitlement program is established, its scope can be alteredonly by amending the law that created it. Over the past 25 years, entitlement spendinghas risen much faster than the federal budget and the gross domestic product (GDP).Proponents of curbing entitlements believe it is the key to controlling federal spendingin the long run. Left unchecked, they fear, entitlement spending will place a large strainon federal budgets far into the future, limiting policy options and forcing futuregenerations to bear an enormous tax burden, especially when post-World War II babyboomers retire and draw on these programs. They put heavy emphasis on projectionsmade by the Social