Tyrus W. Cobb: Time to reduce benefits for us all

The United States and the State of Nevada together are facing budget deficits that threaten the financial viability of the country and the state. The national debt is reaching unprecedented levels - this year alone it will reach a record $1.6 trillion, due to the weak economy, higher spending, and renewed tax cuts.

At the national level, combined expenditures on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are projected to account for 45 percent of federal spending, up from 27 percent in 1975. That entitlement spending could triple by 2035. When defense spending, interest on the debt, and federal pensions are added in, this accounts for 86 percent of federal spending. Interest on the debt currently costs $200 billion annually, but if nothing is done, in just five years the interest on this debt will triple to around $640 billion.

Nevada does not have the luxury of printing money to cover budget deficits, and must have a budget that is balanced. The governor is set to accomplish that by severe spending cuts and not raising taxes. His opponents in the Legislature have squawked loudly, but have yet to offer an alternative plan. The target of the governor's cuts are personnel, since that is where the lion's share of expenditures go, with a focus on reigning in overly generous pensions, benefits and salaries, a problem that is even greater at the local government level.

Government employees must be prepared to accept reductions in retirement pensions and pay much more for health benefits. That goes not only for local and state employees, but those who work for or are retired from the federal government, including military retirees. The defense budget is not sustainable and will have to be reduced in the future, especially to offset soaring retirement and health benefit costs.

Those of us who have reached 65 and are now receiving Social Security and Medicare also must be prepared to accept changes. That means testing of Social Security perhaps, more paid in doctor visits and prescriptions. Yes, I know, we who have paid money into the system for decades in good faith have reason to protest while those who have been less thrifty in planning their retirements will not be penalized. It's not fair, not fair at all, but it must be done.

And those of us who served in the military can make the point that our service was much more demanding and difficult. I, for one, had two tours in Vietnam during which I lived in the swamps, fighting off the VC and cobras alike, separated from my family for a year at a time (I only saw my first-born one week the first year of her life). We moved 17 times our first 13 years of marriage, I worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week in my six years in the White House. No overtime, no sick leave, no padding my retirement with phony "call backs" or special health programs (oh, I do go to the VA, but to participate in an Agent Orange tracking program for those of us exposed to the dangerous defoliant).

Still, the nation cannot afford the entitlement programs that I and many others are eligible for. The state, and especially local governments, is on the verge of a financial crisis and personnel costs, particularly benefits and retirement, must be roped in. It is happening in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Indiana and other states where budgets can only be balanced by reigning in benefits for government employees. Gov. Brian Sandoval says it also must happen here, and he is right, but at all levels of government.

It ain't nice, it isn't pretty, but it must be done.

• Dr. Tyrus W. Cobb of Reno served as director of Soviet and European Affairs and as special assistant to President Reagan.