We simply can’t afford to pay for our old age

With a second credit rating agency, Fitch, threatening to strip Britain of its prized triple-A rating, George Osborne needs to show real progress in his Budget next week towards the goal of putting the public finances back on a sustainable basis. On this front at least, the Chancellor has so far shown himself to be reasonably sure-footed. As promised, the Government is on track to eliminate the structural deficit in five years.

Yet dealing with Gordon Brown’s disastrous legacy of unfunded spending is unfortunately only one part of the public finance challenge. Fast approaching is the much bigger problem of how to address the burgeoning costs of an ageing population.

Some things are being done. The age of entitlement to state pensions is being raised and a political consensus is being sought around socially fair ways of dealing with end-of-life care. Yet none are measures which do any more than scratch the surface.

Some countries are better than others, but, on the whole, democratically elected governments don’t perform well when it comes to the long-term planning necessary to deal with such looming crises. For most, the Keynesian motif of “look after the short term, and the long term will take care of itself” reigns supreme. Few are capable of looking beyond the next election.

Moreover, the growing power of the “grey vote” creates its own political dynamic. Spending on the past – particularly healthcare and pensions – tends to get prioritised over investment in the future – education, transport, infrastructure, and the military. In time, such an approach will undermine competitiveness, and make it even tougher to meet the fiscal challenge that ageing populations pose.

‘We simply cannot afford to pay for our old age’

And neither can we.
Well, to hell with ‘em.
Obama’s gonna make sure his bros are taken care of:

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN HASN’T A CLUE AS TO THE BILLIONS OF AMERICAN TAX PAYER DOLLARS THAT OMUSLIM HAS THROWN AWAY WHILE THREATENING TO WITHOUT SENIOR’S SS AND GUTTING THE MILITARY:

Obamas 2009 Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Pandemic Flu was revised and passed by the full committee.
It gives billions http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2009/05/1...
of U.S. taxpayer dollars to countries and entities that support Sharia law and/or harbor, hide and support those who want to destroy the U.S. and our allies.
Read the summary from David Obeys office that was quietly released last week with nary a word from any media.

$3.6 billion, matching the request, to expand and improve capabilities of the Afghan security forces

$400 million, as requested, to build the counterinsurgency capabilities of the Pakistani security forces

Afghanistan:$1.52 billion,$86 million above the request

West Bank and Gaza:$665 million in bilateral economic, humanitarian, and security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza

Jordan:$250 million,$250 million above the request, including $100 million for economic and $150 million for security assistance

Egypt:$360 million,$310 million above the request, including $50 million for economic assistance,$50 million for border security, and $260 million for security assistance

Pakistan:$1.9 billion,$591 million above the request

Iraq:$968 million,$336 million above the request

Oversight:$20 million,$13 million above the request, to expand oversight capacity of the State Department, USAID, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan to review programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq
Lebanon:$74 million

International Food Assistance:$500 million,$200 million above the request, for PL 480 international food assistance to alleviate suffering during the global economic crisis

Refugee Assistance:$343 million,$50 million above the request, including humanitarian assistance for Gaza. Funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency programs in the West Bank and Gaza is limited to $119 million (Note: Gaza = Hamas)

Disaster Assistance:$200 million to avert famines and provide life-saving assistance during natural disasters and for internally displaced people around the world, including Somalia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, the Middle East and South Asia

Peacekeeping:$837 million for United Nations
peacekeeping operations, including an expanded mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new mission in Chad and the Central African Republic

Department of Justice:$17 million, matching the request, for counter-terrorism activities and to provide training and assistance for the Iraqi criminal justice system
Obama gives your tax dollars to rebuild Muslim mosques around the world
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/... #

ACCORDING TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WILL GIVE AWAY NEARLY $6 MILLION OF AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS TO RESTORE 63 HISTORIC AND CULTURAL SITES, INCLUDING ISLAMIC MOSQUES AND MINARETS, IN 55 NATIONS. See the State Department document here.
http://exchanges.state.gov/media/pdfs/office-...

And THAT’S just the tip of the iceberg.
THIS will blow your mind!!

http://gbk.eads.usaidallnet.gov/
They should have 2010 up, but they don’t. That’s where you’ll find Obama’s largesse towards Muslim countries really go off the charts.
.
http://www.foreignassistance.gov/DataView.aspx

charts:

http://gbk.eads.usaidallnet.gov/data/fast-facts.html

RE: I wonder how much money would be available if they sent the “Asians”/spongers back to where they came from? I’m assuming some of them must work but from what I read most are just on the Dole.

I don't know if you are being sarcastic or not ( if you are, I did not see the sarcasm tag ),
But based on UNEMPLOYMENT demographics, SEE HERE

Asians are the LEAST UNEMPLOYED among all ethnicity groups in America (which means they are the ethnic group that are LEAST LIKELY to go on the dole).

Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity

The unemployment rate by race time series goes back to 1954. With the exception of the Asian time series, all of the rates shown here are seasonally adjusted. Hispanics may be of any race.

Race/Ethnicity	February 2012	Month/Month (Points)	Year/Year (Points)
White	7.3%	-0.1	-0.7
Black or African American	14.1%	+0.5	-1.3
Hispanic or Latino	10.7%	+0.2	-0.9
Asian	6.3%	-0.4	-0.5

Unemployment Rate: White (Blue), Black(Green), Hispanic/Latino (Orange), Asian (Red)

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