Beg, borrow, or steal - we can't pay for entitlements

Here's Pat Buchanan with "Subprime Nation"

Since it began to give credit ratings to nations in 1917, Moody's has rated the United States triple-A. U.S. Treasury bonds have been seen as the most secure investment on earth. When crises erupt, nervous money seeks out the world's great safe harbor, the United States. That reputation is now in peril.

Last week, Moody's warned that if the United States fails to rein in the soaring cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's credit rating will be down-graded within a decade.

And here's Fed chair Ben Bernanke a little more than a year ago:

To get a sense of the magnitudes involved, suppose that we tried to finance projected entitlement spending entirely by revenue increases. In that case, the taxes collected by the federal government would have to rise from about 18 percent of GDP today to about 24 percent of GDP in 2030, an increase of one-third in the tax burden over the next twenty-five years, with more increases to follow.

So, taken together, when the entitlement tsunami hits we won't be able to borrow any more money due to our damaged credit and we won't be able to raise revenues because Americans simply will not pay an additional third in taxes to support programs that will be bankrupt by the time they retire.

This is a fine mess we're in. Are there any adults in Washington, or is this just an endless game of "kick the can"?