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The Young and the Ripped-off
Opinion Journal ^ | 6/24/05 | Stephen Moore

Posted on 06/24/2005 2:35:57 PM PDT by qam1

The Young and the Ripped-off

It was just about 35 years ago that the youth movement made one of its most famous imprints on American history when thousands of college kids and 20-somethings marched on the capital in Washington to protest the Vietnam War. The peacenik hippies commanded headlines by burning their draft cards and reciting the memorable chant: "Hell no, we won't go."

Well, the youth movement is alive and well in America, but this time the students aren't denouncing war, but taxes -- Social Security payroll taxes to be precise.

This Sunday, several thousand college-aged kids (Generation-Y) and young professionals (Generation-X) will participate in the Storm for Reform protest in Washington on Capitol Hill. Students will be bused in from across the east coast, from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. And how's this for a blast from the past: Instead of burning draft cards, these student protestors plan on shredding their Social Security cards. "Social Security is a miserable deal for today's young people," says event organizer Jessica Colon, director of Fix Our Future.com. "My generation gets the joke that we will have to pay in all this money in taxes, and won't get anything out of it."

On a separate track, another youth group, Students for Saving Social Security, will be pounding on Senate and congressional office doors this week and next to demand a modernization of the system. Olympia Snowe's Senate office will be one of the first to be visited.

What these students want is large personal accounts for Social Security so they can invest the money themselves. As. Ms. Colon points out, today's youth are equally distrustful of big government and big business. "They're hostile to the idea of someone else controlling their money." The polls support this conclusion. By about a two-to-one margin

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: genx; geny; olympiasnowe; privateaccounts; socialsecurity; stephenmoore; stormforreform
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To: Hi Heels

You're a pastor and you don't even understand the meaning of Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37??

It's bad enough when laypeople misuse those.


41 posted on 06/27/2005 10:30:14 AM PDT by k2blader (Was it wrong to kill Terri Shiavo? YES - 83.8%. FR Opinion Poll.)
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To: Conspiracy Guy

You disagree that most boomers are strongly opposed to the young people having economic freedom?


42 posted on 06/27/2005 10:30:15 AM PDT by rwfromkansas (http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=rwfromkansas)
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To: k2blader

Do not attack the lady on a personal level.


43 posted on 06/27/2005 10:30:36 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....)
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To: k2blader

I understand disrespect. And I've experienced it here this morning. I've said NOTHING that compromises my ideals or faith. Can you say the same?


44 posted on 06/27/2005 10:31:27 AM PDT by Hi Heels (Guns kill and cause crime? Dang, mine must be malfunctioning....)
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To: Hi Heels
So, what have you done besides work against the only party that might hear you?

Therein lies our difference. I do not believe the Republican party will hear me. I do not believe they are interested in reform. I do not believe helping them get elected is helping our country. I voted for GWB and I feel betrayed because of it.

45 posted on 06/27/2005 10:31:39 AM PDT by T.Smith
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To: Conspiracy Guy

Huzzah! I have no argument with you. Just with others I've come across who find the idea as repugnant as they find the Democrats.


46 posted on 06/27/2005 10:31:52 AM PDT by k2blader (Was it wrong to kill Terri Shiavo? YES - 83.8%. FR Opinion Poll.)
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To: Conspiracy Guy

I am not criticizing those of you who support us, just those who don't, which is the vast majority of older folks.


47 posted on 06/27/2005 10:32:25 AM PDT by rwfromkansas (http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=rwfromkansas)
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To: qam1

Get used to it. It's the government's money. It's the government's land.

I think I'll write a new song. "This land is Uncle Sam's. This land is Uncle Sam's. From California to the New York Islands. From the redwood forests to the . . . This land was made for Uncle Sam."


48 posted on 06/27/2005 10:36:46 AM PDT by petitfour
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To: rwfromkansas

It is not the vast majority. It is the left and the poor planners. Sure a 60 year old expects something back. They have 40+ years of theft by the government.


49 posted on 06/27/2005 10:45:32 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....)
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To: rwfromkansas
I don't agree. I think most of us 50 and above support any vision that would resolve the problem. I realize there is a large vocal group of boomers who are screaming bloody murder, but they, even with the warning of SSI BK STILL aren't making arrangements to support themselves in the future. In my mind, that's foolhardy. But, for the most part, responsible people over the age of 50 are doing what they've been doing all along. WORKING.

However, insults, disrespect of your elders and shrill name calling won't solve anything. More of a liberal response. In fact, it might sway the vote the other way....

I have not, not one time, disagreed with the premise that something needs to be done, that resolution is needed now. My objection is to be called names, accused of "ripping" off the next generation, insults about my faith, etc. Want the vote to go against you? Just keep that up. Debate is two adults presenting points, not this. I'll pass.

50 posted on 06/27/2005 10:48:25 AM PDT by Hi Heels (Guns kill and cause crime? Dang, mine must be malfunctioning....)
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To: k2blader

Just don't use phrases like "All Baby Boomers" etc and you'll see less fighting


51 posted on 06/27/2005 10:48:49 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....)
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To: Conspiracy Guy
So how do you deem WE are ripping you off? The dems fight reform and it is they who are ripping you off.

Who just voted themselves a Prescription Drug Benefit (including free Viagra) knowing full well SS & Medicare are going broke?

52 posted on 06/27/2005 2:10:59 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: qam1
"My generation gets the joke that we will have to pay in all this money in taxes, and won't get anything out of it."

Just like regular taxes, kids...about time you noticed, suckers.

53 posted on 06/27/2005 2:13:31 PM PDT by who knows what evil? (New England...the Sodom and Gomorrah of the 21st Century, and proud of it!)
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To: Hi Heels
One of the last things I read from an X Gen compatriot was that the boomers should be humanly euthanized at age 70.

Anyone that shows up 'uninvited' on my 70th birthday will be 'humanely euthanized' by Smith and Wesson, or perhaps Mossberg.

54 posted on 06/27/2005 2:15:54 PM PDT by who knows what evil? (New England...the Sodom and Gomorrah of the 21st Century, and proud of it!)
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To: qam1

That is mere piling on. The system was broken when I was in my teens. They dems fought fixing it for years and just looked for ways to give more people money from it.

I didn't get to vote on the prescription drug deal so I am not among the WE here.

Are you one of those generalizationists? I am ripping you off because I am on the tail end of the baby boom Born in 54 and ALL BABY BOOMERs like the Socialist Security plan.

If not for tax penalties I could retire now and live better than I do working. My SS Benefit is projected to be $2,000 per month at 65 which is a drop in the bucket. If I could stop paying now add that to my holdings every month and forget about 35 years of paying into a system that sends fatherless children to college I could add more than $2000 per month to my projected private account income.

So leave me out of WE. Hope you're planning now or you'll be hoping SS lives on.


55 posted on 06/27/2005 2:26:19 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....)
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To: qam1; Conspiracy Guy
I didn't vote on that, did you CG? Didn't GET a new prescription benefit either. Other than what's on my employer's plan.

So. Who DID vote for that? Cuz Boomers haven't retired yet for the most part. FYI.

Broad brush=narrow mind IMHO.

56 posted on 06/27/2005 2:27:42 PM PDT by Hi Heels (Guns kill and cause crime? Dang, mine must be malfunctioning....)
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To: Hi Heels
Whiny little children who think they discovered that SS is a broken system. They really amuse me and splaining the history of it to them is like teaching my Labrador Retriever algebra.
57 posted on 06/27/2005 2:31:39 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....)
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To: Hi Heels

And no I didn't get to vote and I don't need Viagra.


58 posted on 06/27/2005 2:33:26 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....)
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To: Hi Heels
So. Who DID vote for that?

All the Boomers in congress. It was none other than Rick Santorum (b. May 10, 1958) who sponsored the bill in the senate.

Cuz Boomers haven't retired yet for the most part. FYI.

Well when they do real soon they get a nice benefit courtesy of their children & grand children. But hey, the boomer's deserve it, they lived through the 1960's

Broad brush=narrow mind IMHO.

Tell that to Rush

Quote "(The baby boomers are) the worst generation, if you ask me, and I'm a member of it"

59 posted on 06/27/2005 2:44:57 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: qam1
Let's try that again. I did not vote for it.

Cuz Boomers haven't retired yet for the most part. FYI. Well when they do real soon they get a nice benefit courtesy of their children & grand children. But hey, the boomer's deserve it, they lived through the 1960's

So, this might happen, so let me insult in ADVANCE? That's productive.

Broad brush=narrow mind IMHO. Tell that to Rush

Delighted. Maybe you two can do lunch.

60 posted on 06/27/2005 2:49:26 PM PDT by Hi Heels (Guns kill and cause crime? Dang, mine must be malfunctioning....)
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